


Grasp the Atlas

by Blondevient



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Back to Texas, Coran is a great uncle, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Garrison is a private institute, Happy Ending, HunkxShay is like the last chapter, M/M, Memory Loss, No life vests, Shiro is a brother, Similar to canon but not really, They might end up in space who knows, lance is hurt, lance is smol, lost at sea, on an island, probably, washed up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-03 08:16:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 39,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13337118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blondevient/pseuds/Blondevient
Summary: When Lance's 10th birthday goes wrong, he ends up on a small island in Mexico. Found by Allura and adopted by Coran, Lance has to figure out his new life in Texas without any memories of his past. But when he finally gets into the swing of things, everything crumbles and it's up to him and Keith to pick up the pieces without the help of their family.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi
> 
> I am a meme
> 
> But I like voltron

For Lance McClain, the world had always been big enough. He lived in California, surfing waves and searching tide pools for starfish since he was young. The ocean spreading vast in front of his secluded little beach front home. The sound of crashing waves would occasionally be interrupted by the screaming of his siblings. His oldest sisters had already moved out, leaving four brothers and a sister to run around the house, wreaking havoc as his mother tried to clean. Miguel, Leo, Marco, and Anton were his older brothers, but Miguel was secretly his favorite. Anita, Eva, and Lana were his older sisters. Lana was the only one left living with them, Anita and Eva were out at college and building their own families. Sometimes Lance's mother would tease Miguel, the oldest of the eight of them, that Anita was ahead of him despite being a year younger. ‘At this rate, Lance will have children before you go to college.’ Ana McClain would complain, hitting her oldest child upside the head with a small smile.

All eight McClain kids were fans of heat, sun, and the sea air smell. California was home to them. Papers of plans to build a boat to sail the world covered the walls . Posters of starfish, polaroids printed out of him and his older brothers with a model boat; of him and his sisters wearing face masks. A ocean themed calendar pinned above his bed, a date marking his tenth birthday circled and starred like it was the most important day of his life. It was only a few hours now, and Lance was beyond excited. For his family, going into double digits was a big deal. Being the youngest, last, and in his opinion, the best, child, the spoiled Cuban boy would be getting a party with the whole family. His grandparents, his aunts and uncles, their children, his siblings who had moved out and started their own families, everyone.

Lances’ RSVP list was well into the 40’s and 50’s. The night of his birthday, his older brothers were planning on taking him in a speed boat up the coast and back for about an hour to celebrate. Now, Lance wasn’t supposed to know this. However, almost-ten year olds are prone to prying, Lance himself included. As Lance hummed and kicked his feet off the edge of his bed, Lance's mother walked into his room.  
“Lance, honey? I have a present from your father and I.” She crouched down beside her son, holding out a small black box. 

“Really? Thanks, Mama!” He gave a wide grin, hopping off the bed so he stood as he took the box. When he opened it, a shiny silver necklace was revealed. “Wow!” Lance said in awe, looking back up to his mother. “Thank you!” He threw his arms around his mothers neck and kissed her cheek. “I love you, Mama!” After a few second of hugging, Lance's mother leaned back and took the necklace out of the box.  
“Now let’s get this birthday boy all dressed up, shall we?” Ana McClain pulled a button up shirt over Lances shoulders and buttoned it. “Finishing touches.” She smiled at Lance as she reached behind him to clip the necklace on. “Now you’re all ready, my baby is so grown up.” She placed a kiss to Lance's forehead. “Now, there is a surprise at dinner with this, so you’ll have to wait.” She poked the necklace charm- a silver shell the size of a penny- then walked out of the room. 

As final decorations were set up and the final seconds ticked away, Lance was about to find out how big the world really was.

The first to arrive was his grandparents on his moms side, who he greeted with big hugs and kisses on the cheeks. “Thank you!” Lance would squeak, the words repeating for each guest that walked through the front door to their beach house, dry winds from the darkening sky blowing through the open doors. Looked like it would end up being a little stormy tonight. Despite the angry sky, the boy began to party, dance around, and eat from the trays full of his favorite foods that lined the tables. It was all a blur. Twirling with his sister, bowing to his little niece, kissing his mother's hand as a gentlemans thank you, he was a hurricane. He hopped from guest to guest, thanking them, telling jokes, and dancing. It was obvious to everyone present that this little entertainer was built for customer service; the way Lance handled his house guests was with a maturity far beyond his age. 

The candles blew out. 

For the fourth time, his mother had to relight the flames that refused to stay lit long enough for the small boy to make his wish. His breath held, hand gripping his new shell charm, Lance blew out the candles before the wind could steal the chance again. His wish echoed in his head as he watched blue wax drop from the candle to the base of it. His smile was as bright as the flames themselves. As the cake was being served and passed around, his oldest brother announced that it was time for him to get on the boat. 

“I can’t let you take him-” Lance’s mother said softly to her eldest son, looking at the sky in concern. “It looks dangerous. There’s always tomorrow.” She attempted to convince the boys, her gaze casting nervously to the smiling birthday boy who was waiting with a life jacket around his shoulders in anticipation. 

“Mama, come on, look at him.” The oldest brother, Miguel, insisted. “Look how excited he looks.” 

“Miguel…” She sighed. With more worried looks at the clouds above, his mother reluctantly agreed to a short trip along the coast, back in 30 minutes. The brothers took her offer, knowing that she was being very gracious. Within five minutes the boys were packed up, Miguel sweeping Lance up into his arms. 

“Ready, Kiddo?” He smiled, “Let’s go.” Miguel placed Lance at the back of the boat where he would catch most of the spray like he wanted, starting up the boat. Lances other brothers piled in after them, and they pulled out from the dock that was anchored just off shore. Lance held tight to the end of the boat as he leaned over the edge. His heart leapt in his throat, so he focused on the backs of the life jackets his brothers wore. ‘McClain’ was written in blocky capital letters to claim their life jackets. Drawing in a deep, excited breath, Lance calmed down. They sped off, ignoring the dark sky with angry rain in the distance. “Lance-” Miguel yelled over the wind. “Where do you want to go? Left or right?” He looked around at Lance, the boat slowing as he waited for directions. Looking around, Lance pointed forwards, out towards the storm. 

“Out!” He grinned, “I wanna feel the rain!” Usually bright blue eyes seemed to reflect the approaching storm, flickering dangerously with the light that would break through the dark layers of clouds. Lack of better judgement led Miguel to accept the request, just wanting to appease his youngest brother on his birthday. He swallowed and pushed the throttle, guiding the boat out into deeper waters. Lance had heard of a recent tsunami across the ocean, and wanted to find any debris from leaves or trees to prove that the Earth was connected. That the planet he lived on wasn’t as big as he was convinced it was. 

When they started to spot branches from trees or leaves that must have been carried over by the tide from the other side of the world, Miguel was ready to head home; they needed to turn back. What he wasn’t ready for was a strike of lightning that hit dangerously close to the boat, causing a small shriek from Lance as he jumped. His laugh was infectious, the other brothers joining in on the nervous giggling. That was when the wind picked up. Waves began to push against their small speed boat, not built for rough waters. 

“Lance, hold on!” One of Lance’s middle brothers yelled, pushing to the front to help Miguel turn the boat and head back towards home. As the brothers began to fight over control of the boat, Lance turned his head and spotted something floating near the surface. To get a closer look, Lance leaned in towards it. “Hi-” He began, until it was cut short by a wave crashing over his head and pulling him under. 

His throat was full of water, his eyes streaming from the salt in them. “Miguel-” He tried to yell, only breaking off into coughs that were not loud enough to cut through the storm around him. Then his heart sank, the boat had turned back towards the main land and was soon cutting through the waves too fast for him to try and get their attention. Because he was usually level headed, Lance tried to remain calm, but waves kept battering him left and right. Then the lightning struck the water, probably half a mile away. His heart leapt in his throat from the shock, and he passed out. 

It took the boys getting back to the dock and turning around to realize they didn’t have their little brother with them. Miguel froze, “Lance…? Lance, this isn’t funny-” But he knew there was no where for Lance to hide on the small boat. His brother was not with them, not close. Miguel and his second brother flipped out, their hands shaking as they began to yell, leaning over the edge of the boat, looking to see if the bump of hitting the dock had caused him to fall overboard. As Lances other brothers began to tie up the boat, then looked out at sea. “W-We have to go get him-” Miguel insisted. 

“Are you crazy?” Anton leaned back, “and lose another one of us?” He waved his arm, “We have to call the police! They can send out the navy, the coast guard, the…” He bit his cheek, his worry for his brother obvious. However, he was the most rational one. If they went back out there in their dinky little boat the waves could knock them all overboard. “Miguel, Leo, Marco-” Anton started. “Please, l-let’s go get Mama…” He turned, sprinting into the shallow waters to get home and tell his mother to call the authorities. All the McClain brothers were right behind him.

A heart-wrenching scream caused the music to die down, the voices to cease, and all heads to turn to the cuban woman who was on her knees, clutching Antons arms for support, the others surrounding him. Lance’s mother  was distraught. She knew she shouldn’t have agreed, but the hopeful smile on her youngests face was too hard to say no to. She should have said no. She should have stopped them. She should have… But she didn’t. No one knew what to do, staring out at the stormy sea, helpless to save their lost family. 

By the time the storm cleared, the coast guard was able to go out, aware of Lances description and whereabouts. They searched for hours, days, following along the tide and checking nearby beaches. Lance McClain's face would flash on their monitors as looking around in vain. He was gone. The search was called off after a week, planes and boats already heading in, the child never found. There was no way Lance McClain was alive, no way he had made it out of the rough seas and back to land after being ten miles out. No way he had survived a week of rough seas and lack of water. 

He was declared dead an hour later.

The news broke the McClains. Their youngest son, brother, friend, was gone. Just like that. They hadn’t even seen it coming. However, no funeral service was held. They had, deep down in the hearts, the hope that their son was alive. Something told them that Lance was okay, wherever he was. 

The world couldn’t be that big.

Sputtering awake, the sun beat down on the boys face. “What-” Lances eyes grew wide, and he looked around him at the stretch of land he was resting on. There were some birds hopping around nearby, and when he coughed, they screeched and flew off. Taking in his surroundings, Lance noted a soft, sandy beach that was burning because of the heat it took in from the constant sunlight. There were very few trees, causing the land to look fairly dead. From his spot on the ground, he could see cactuses peeking over the hills that restricted his view. Lance tried to get into a sitting position, but his body refused. 

After a few failed attempts at getting up, Lance looked back at his body. Stiff, dry clothes clung to his limbs, feeling uncomfortable and scratchy. The life jacket he had been wearing was still a little damp, and was causing a rash to spread around his neck where it was laying. Lance, reaching up to remove said life jacket, saw his arms. The boy took in a sharp breath. His arms were discolored, pale in comparison to what they used to be. It was a sick pale, one he had seen on people at the beach who hadn’t drank enough, or gotten hurt in the water. But it was horrible. His skin was lighter, his whole body felt soft and bloated, yet he could see his bones poking where he had lost the little fat he had. There were salt patches on his arms and legs, along with rashes, bruises, and sores. Blood was dried around the cuts, the rashes on his body were burning from the salt and the sun combination. I’m a mess, he thought as he lay in the sand, life jacket still around his neck. He could feel a cool metal against his chest underneath. 

Memories of the past week began to infiltrate the shock in Lances mind, giving him ideas of what happened, but not enough for him to know how long it had been. Scenes like falling off a boat, a seagull sitting on his head, swallow a big mouthful of salt water, and nothing but a wide spread of blue. But no crying. Lance had known that crying would only dehydrate him faster, so he had slipped in and out of consciousness until being pushed up on this shore where had just woken up. So after a few more tries to get up, Lance flopped back down, pressing his cheek to the warm land, hiccuping softly. He wanted to go home until something snapped in his brain. Where was he, who exactly was he, what was his address, his family's name, why can’t he remember? Tears trickled down his cheeks for the first time in a week. The fresh source of salt burned through the layer of sand on his face, stinging the cuts below. Lance wanted to go home, but he didn’t know where to go, or how. 

Lance just lay on that empty beach, hungry and dehydrated, where hours seemed like days. Just before it was getting to dusk, he heard something. The voices of two people. He weakly opened his eyes, his vision clouding as he focused on the direction of the voices. His ears were ringing; maybe he was dying and these were angels coming to take him to heaven. The thought of that made Lance rigid with fear, and he curled up a fist. As he fought not to pass out from focusing too much, a person appeared on top of the hill. It was a person, a real person. A large, scary looking silhouette, but a person nonetheless. Reaching out a hand, Lances voice rasped a quiet plea for help. 

“Oh my god-” The voice began. “Allura! There’s a kid-” A heavy body began to make its way across the sand towards Lance. “Hello?” The voice began softly as the mystery man dropped to his knees besides the ailing boy. Something about the larger man made Lance nervous. His jaw was at a sharp angle, and his hair had a streak of white in the front. It made Lance want to laugh, he looked like an old man. But the scar stretching across the bridge of the man's nose was what sold Lance on the intimidating nature of the stranger. The man pulled his phone out of the pocket of his khaki shorts, looking up to speak to Lance. “How did you get here-” He reached out gently, unsure if he was able to touch the boy. “My name is Shiro-” Shiro said, sweeping his hair out of his eyes. “Who are you-” He gently reached over, removing the life jacket so it would free up Lances movements. 

“Lance… Lance C.. Cl…” He scrunched up his nose as he tried to remember. “I’m Lance.” He said finally, his voice scratchy from swallowing so much salt water and not being used. His eyes were drawn from Shiro’s sharp face to a much softer, darker face of a woman. 

“My name is Allura.” She smiled gently, placing a hand on Shiro's shoulder so she could crouch beside him. Lance took in her soft brown skin, and stark white hair. Small wisps of hair framed her face, the rest pulled back into a messy bun high on her head. She wore a white and pink rash guard for swimming, with bright pink swim shorts. Sunglasses rested on her head, indents from them on her nose to show she had just been wearing them. “We’re going to get you cleaned up, okay, Lance?” She looked over him. “Looks like you’ve been out here for a while, huh?” Her voice was much more calming and appealing than Shiro's, but Lance was still on guard. When Allura began to reach out to brush his hair out of his face, he shrunk away. 

“P-please-” Lance said, on the verge of breaking down for the first time since getting thrown overboard. But he was so dehydrated, there were no tears left. His hands trembled as he reached up and pushed his hair back to reveal bright blue eyes, bloodshot from exhaustion. “Help-” His voice broke and he coughed. Everything felt weak, tired, and a little cold. Unable to lift his head now, Lance closed his eyes, feeling arms gently lift him up. They felt strong, slender. He thought it was Shiro at first, but the subtle smell of pine sap and cinnamon told him it was Allura, since Shiro had smelled a little like sweat, he wasn’t going to lie. Lance allowed himself to curl himself into a protective ball in Alluras arms. 

“I’ve got you, Lance.” She smiled down at the boy. “We’re going to go get you freshened up, okay?” Allura motioned for Shiro to follow her, thrusting her chin back towards their camp. “So, Lance, what is your favorite color?” Her slight British accent seemed very foreign to Lance, who grew up in a Spanish speaking community. Because of this, Lance caught himself taking a moment to reply. 

“I like blue…” He said softly, “And I really like purple too.” At a glance, the button down Lance was still wearing from the party looked a deep navy blue, but it was actually laced with small purple stripes. It was Lances favorite shirt. He kept his hands busy during the walk back by buttoning and unbuttoning one of the buttons on his shirt. “Do… you know where we are?” Lance asked, glancing up at Allura with wide eyes. Not that it mattered, he didn’t remember where he came from. A large ocean in front of a beech wood deck was all Lance recalled from home. 

“We’re on a small island in Mexico.” Allura spoke, “Shiro and I are out here camping, we just graduated high school in June.” She cast a fond look at Shiro, one that made Lance want to smile. He was always a sucker for other peoples romances, even at such a young age. He would watch soap operas and shout the dramatic lines with his sister. That is, until Miguel would come in and sweep them off the couch, one in each arm, dropping them in the twins’s bedroom, and tickling them. That gave Lance a headache, who was Miguel? 

“Mexico…” He said softly, looking up at the sky, “Am I from Mexico?” He peered around the landscape, frowning at how dead everything was looking. The two of them picked a pretty crappy place to vacation, he thought.  

“I’m not sure-” Allura started, glancing him over. “It’s really hard to say…” She figured he looked hispanic, but his accent was clear and northwestern. “We’ll find out after we wash you up.” She reached up carefully with one of her hands, brushing dried salt and sand off Lances cheek to reveal a rich, warm, brown tone. It was a little pale because of how sick Lance was, but Allura could just tell that he spent days in the sun when he was home. Her breath caught when she saw something peeking up from the collar of Lances shirt, but she decided to investigate when they got back to camp. 

Upon arriving, Allura promptly set Lance to rest in her pop-up chair. “I’m going to get water from the stream nearby.” She smiled, “sit tight, hun.” Her hip bumped the chair as she stood up, grabbing a bucket and starting out to the sound of running water. This was when Shiro made his way over, being the one in charge of helping Lance undress and doing damage control. 

“Hey.” He smiled, softer than Lance thought he was capable of. “I’m gonna help you get ready, okay?”.  He continued to talk after receiving a confirmation from Lance, “Y’know, I have a little brother around your age. I think you two would be good friends.” Shiro's touch was gentle as he unbuttoned and removed Lances favorite shirt, leaving it folded on the chair arm. By the time Shiro returned his gaze to Lance, he gasped. 

Bright pink, raw scars were traced along lances upper chest, ending around his neck and collarbone. “S-Shiro?” Lance sounded worried, then looked down. He bit his cheek, “What is that?” He sounded a little panicked, reaching up and placing a hand on the skin. It was red around the area, but there was a definite darkening of his skin with red scar tissue where something had attacked him. Flashes filled Lances mind and he choked, curling up in a ball, hiding his face.

“Hey, hey buddy, it’s okay! It’s okay, it’s just skin. It’ll be just fine.” Shiro reached up and placed a hand on Lances shoulder, not seeing any cuts or sores there. “We’re going to get you all clean, then take you to a doctor. They’ll fix you right up.” His voice was reassuring, yet commanding. Shiro knew how to keep people calm for sure. Lances heart rate slowed, and he took to inspecting the intricate scars that laced his chest. 

When Allura returned, they helped him wash off his cuts, getting rid of the salt and sand that clung to him. She ran shampoo and conditioner through Lances hair, trying to clean him up a little more. The shampoo stung his cuts when it ran down his body, but Lance didn’t care. He felt clean and happier than he had been a few minutes ago. Shiro, luckily, had found a pair of pants that belonged to his little brother, Keith, in his suitcase. They had gotten tangled up in his packed clothes. Lance pulled them on, and they fit fairly perfectly. A little small though. The dark navy blue cargo shorts complimented his eyes. Staring around their little camp, a voice registered in his head.

“-nce… Lance!” The voice called louder, causing him to whip around. “Lance, come over here.” Allura motioned, crouching by the fire pit that was smoking a little. She seemed to be cooking; Lance could smell beans. Allura gave Lance a bowl full of baked beans with a little plastic spoon. That was when Lance realized he was starving. Quickly wolfing down the beans, Lance allowed his body to sink into the camp chair that they had allowed him to use. The now empty bowl rest on his lap, and he closed his eyes. Suddenly something cold touches his cheek, causing him to jump in surprise. Opening his eyes, he sees Shiro with a bottle of water, 

“Drink up, you really need it.” Shiro gestured to Lances dry skin. “I have more if you want some. We are going to fly to the mainland in the morning to find your family, okay?” Shiro’s face and voice didn’t give away the worry he felt. The smiling little face in front of him didn’t seem to know who he was or where he was from. Watching as Lance chugged down the water, Shiro tried to decode the whole situation. A boy shows up on a beach, covered in scars and cuts; his memory was unreliable, and he didn’t talk very much. A small sigh escaped his lips, and Shiro stood up straight. There was no cell service out here, so it would be a little while before they could take the boat back to the mainland. To keep Lance busy, Shiro began to tell stories when night fell. They laughed, and Shiro and Allura shared a beer, not wanting to get drunk with such a little guest around. However, seeing the two laughing adults gave Lance some comfort. Sure, they were a little tipsy, but they didn’t seem hindered by his presence. That was all Lance could worry himself with, bothering these two new strangers. 

By the time the next morning rolled around, he had gotten a good night’s sleep and the water was returning to his body. Much more energized, Lance was returning back to his normal self. Pulling himself out of the tent that he slept in between Shiro and Allura in, he walked over to the campfire. As the birds chirped, Lance decided to climb a trail up a hill. Soft, arid wind blew in his face, tangling his hair. At the crest of the hill, Lance could see the whole island. It was tiny. It’s a miracle I landed here…, Lance thought, and could see a few islands out in the far distance. A nice horizon view… Why is it so familiar? The thought couldn’t get out of Lances mind.  Where did I come from? Glancing down at his bare chest, Lance traced his finger over the scars that now decorated him. What caused them. As he tried to remember, Lance sat down to make sure he didn’t fall over from the dizziness.

I remember a boat… There was someone there- a man? Then I fell over. Vague memories filled Lances head. Of course, he remembered things like math, spelling, his personality. But what was missing were names and faces. Who is my mother? Where do I live?

His heart was aching. Somewhere, someone missed him. He knew that much. For a second, a loud crash rang in his ears, but it was from in his head and not the outside world. Slamming his hands to his head, Lance tried to subdue the sudden headache. Lightning. There was a bang. Everything went black. He wheezed and tried to shake off the remaining pain from the headache. 

He started to hear a voice carry over the dry breeze, hearing a female shout his name. Turning, he tumbled back down the hill and smiled at Allura. Because he was too trusting, and open, and friendly, Lance threw himself into Alluras arms and hugged her. “Am I going home?” He asked, eyes wide.  
     
“Lance!” Allura laughed in surprise, stumbling back from the force. “We’re all packed and ready to go, we’ll take a boat to Mexico and from there to customs to figure it out, alright?” She ruffled his hair, smiling at how soft it really was compared to yesterday when it was full of salt. “The boat is ready now, so come on!” She set Lance down and beckoned him to follow her. 

The boat ride was fairly calm, other than Lances original freak out. He felt fine until he was on the boat, a life jacket around his neck. It made him panic, he grasped Shiro's arm and breathed heavily, staring at the sky with wide eyes as if it would suddenly open and swallow him whole. Not again. Lances mind raced and as Shiro attempted to calm him, he squeezed his eyes shut and hyperventilated until Shiro removed the life jacket. Once the jacket was off, Lance calmed and loosened his grip on him. That’s when he realized, after the panic died out and the boat had returned to normal, that Shiro's arm was hard. It wasn’t warm or squishy like Alluras had been. This man's right arm felt fake.  
     
“Lance-?” Shiro asked, looking down at him in surprise. “Are you okay-” When he saw Lance poking at his arm, he laughed. “Oh. My arm.” He pulled his sleeve back. What Lance had failed to notice yesterday was a scar along the top of Shiro's arm, connecting metal pieces to flesh.  
     
 "You’re a cyborg?” Lance gasped in awe, only reading about those in the story books on his shelves. He winced at the sudden past memory, but continued to smile at Shiro.

“I guess so, huh?” He laughed. “Is it weird?” His cyborg arm came up and pressed against Lances head. 

 “It feels so soft-” Lance seemed surprised. “It’s like a cold hand.” His hand took Shiro’s and began to inspect it. “I like it!” He laughed, forcing Shiro’s hand into a fist so he could fist bump it. “Now we’re bros.”

“Yeah? That sounds good, Buddy.” His voice trailed off as Lance fell into a deep sleep, letting the boy rest against his shoulder. When he glanced over at Allura, he saw her eyes shining at her boyfriend and Lance. About 8 hours later they reached the mainland. Lance shifted, beginning to wake up. Lance stretched out, awake but uncomfortable. Shiro smiled, standing up when the boat docked. He saw Lance with his hand up to his neck, nervously playing with a silver chain around his neck, but he didn’t question it as they unloaded their things from the tiny boat.  
     
    “Come on, hun.” Allura bumped Lance gently with her hip as her arms were full with the chairs and the cooler. “Would you mind grabbing this folder?” Allura asked Lance, kicking at a manilla file on the ground. “Hold on to it tight, ‘kay? It’s got all our important stuff in it!” Watching, Allura smiled as Lance held the folder up to his chest.  
     
“Okay!” Lance said softly, casting his first genuine smile at Allura. “I’ll keep it safe!” His small hands gripped the folder tight, and they head off towards a car rental nearby. 

The air was warm, which Lance liked. But it felt wrong. Something made Lance wary, like he didn’t belong here. Instead of worrying more, he stepped close to Shiro’s side and grabbed a hold of his shirt. Shiro made him feel safe; it must be because Shiro was nearing six feet tall, and clearly worked out. He made Lances brothers look like sticks that could be crushed under his feet. That made Lances head hurt. Brothers? His head pounded and he tugged Shiro’s shirt gently. 

“I don’t feel real good.” Lance rasped, lights pulsing around him. Steps faltered and Lance groaned in pain at the approaching migrain. “Ow…” He let go of Shiro’s shirt and pressed his hand to his forehead, trying to relieve the pressure. “My head hurts!” The boy leaned back, stopping his steps all together. Tears filled Lance’s eyes. He began to hiccup, his chest heaving with frustration at the memories that were just out of reach. Lance knew he had a mother, a father, and siblings. He knew his home was somewhere warm- he could almost hear the waves from the memories he couldn’t reach. Lance knew the necklace around his neck was a gift from his mother, but he didn’t know why she had given it to him. Nothing clicked into his head, everything was like it was right behind a thin sheet of ice. But the longer Lance spent with Shiro and Allura, the icier the wall got. His whole world was being closed off from him. Everything he had once been was now drowning, stuck on the other side of a seemingly unbreakable wall. As he sunk to the ground, crying to himself, Shiro passed his stuff off to Allura. 

“Lance-” His voice cut though Lance’s head. “It’s okay, look at me.” Shiro smiled. “I know you’re scared, and hurt, but we’re going to get you home. You’re safe now.” Lance wouldn’t know until years later that he had mumbled about his family and forgetting them while in his panicked trance. Shiro’s words managed to calm him once more, and he allowed Shiro to give him a piggyback ride all the way to the car rental. Before heading out, Shiro purchased a few snacks and drinks for the road. 

“It’ll be a long way back to America.” Allura twisted in her seat to look back at Lance in the back seat. “You just sit tight, we’ll get there soon.” Her smile warmed Lance’s heart. 

“Okay…” He munched quietly on potato chips that Shiro had bought, a water or two balanced on his legs. “Is it okay if we play a game?” He knew the rules of a few car games, knowing he had played some with his family on road trips to nowhere, or that’s what he remembered anyway. “We count letters off of road signs or licence plates.” He bounced a little in his seat as he explained. “And you can’t lose the game, which makes it perfect!” Lances little grin caused Allura to giggle. 

“It sounds fun, Lance. Let’s do it!” 

After a few rounds of it, Lance finished his turn and had just found a X on a passing licence plate. “Your turn…” He mumbled softly. After a few minutes, Allura got lucky and found a Y on a road sign. Lance yawned, curling up and pressing his cheek against the warm window. “Z...Shiro… you… turn…” Lance was unable to finish his sentence, a deep sigh emitting from him.

“Z.” Shiro smiled, glancing back and making a soft ‘Zzz’ sleeping noise as he poked Lances nose. “Sleep well, world traveler.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance finally meets Keith and his small, mismatched family in the middle of Texas.  
> After talking to the police and getting some hot chocolate, Lance is already off exploring the Texan wilderness.  
> But Keith gets hurt, and he has to trust Lance to help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes I am a hot mess  
> But here is chapter 2

Lance’s eyes fluttered open. “Shiro-?” He asked softly, raising his voice so he was heard. The sun was bright, and he raised a hand to block it. “Where-”

“We’re in America, bud.” Shiro smiled in the rearview mirror and then turned to look at him. 

“America…” Lance said, looking over at the landscape around them. “It’s so warm here… Where are we going?”

“Texas!” Allura interrupted Shiro as he opened his mouth to talk. “Back home!” She stretched an arm out the open window. “We’re going to get you cleaned up even better with the help of my uncle!” Allura smiled. She grabbed her bag to get ready. “Almost home.” She warned about 10 minutes later. 

As Lance looked out the window, he noticed a small boy with a messy hair traipsing almost unseen through the shrubs near the road. When they made eye contact, the boys eyes widened, and he took off at a dead sprint in the same direction they were driving. He disappeared a few moments later. 

Lance brushed it off and smiled as they pulled into a dusty driveway. “This is home!” Allura announced, hopping out of the car. “We’re home, Keith!” She yelled towards the house. She smiled down at Lance. “Shiros little brother-” She explained. “He’s about your age!” 

The same small boy stepped out of the bushes, his eyes narrowed towards Lance as he breathed heavily. “Who is this?” He grumbled, his voice dark. “Why is he wearing my pants!?” Keith exclaimed, looking at Lance with wider, upset eyes. 

“Keith.” Shiro smiled, walking up to him and crouching down. “Lance lost his family, there is nowhere for him to go for now. Give him a break okay? For me? He’ll be gone in a week, I promise.” Shiro reached up, resting his hand on Keith’s shoulder. 

As that exchange went on, Lance grabbed Allura’s hand, taking in the small, kind of dirty looking, well… shack. The walls were made of an obviously old wood, the roof was a green tin-like material. He figured that on the odd occasion it did rain, that would shield the sorry shelter in front of him. He smiled a little at the tiny cast iron cut out of a horse on the door that had the word ‘Home’ under it. While it wasn’t fancy, Lance could tell a lot of love was underneath the small tin roof. Sticking close to Allura, Lance was led inside. 

“This is our home! It’s a little small, but everyone gets their own room!” She bumped a door open with her hip. “Here is my room, you can relax in here if you want while I go put this stuff in the garage! I’ll draw a bath then come get you, alright?” She ushered Lance into the room and walked off. “Be right back!” Her soothing voice called out, and Lance heard a door creak open a little ways down the hall. While he waited, Lance looked around the room. There were some pictures of Allura and Shiro kissing and posing; they were tacked to a string of lights that framed her desk. The desk area was immaculate, all pens and pencils in color and size order. The small cuban boy admired that Allura’s bed was made, the wood walls were covered in enough decorations where it was rustic, but not showy. 

Allura sure knows how to make any space work… Lance smiled to himself, fiddling with the end of his button up sleeves. Arguing drew Lance out of his mind, and he tiptoed to the door. He saw the boy again, who had messy black hair which framed his round face, and a shorter build. Yet Lance could tell this boy was athletic by the arm muscles that were showing because of his tank top.

“Lance!” Shiro called out, having spotted the boy peeking out of Allura’s room. “Lance?” He sounded confused when Lance squeaked and ducked back into Allura’s room. “Where did you go?” He pushed open the door to the bedroom with one hand, the other pressed firm against Keith’s back to make sure his brother didn’t dash off. “Hey…” His voice was gentle, still a little wary around Lance. “This is my little brother, Keith Kogane.” Shiro gave Keith a little shove as if to say, ‘play nice or you’re grounded.’ 

Keith huffed and avoided eye contact, “Nice to meet you.” He held a hand out, obviously very reluctant. Lance took a small step forwards, yet was too nervous to shake his hand. His eyes were wide with uncertainty. Keith looked up to say something snarky about Lance not shaking his hand yet, but met his eyes. Immediately his glare softened and his posture relaxed. He knew what it felt like to be alone and scared. Keith managed a small, probably unflattering smile, and shot it towards Lance. While his smile was rarely used, the sight of Lance relaxing at it only made it more genuine. 

This kid could be okay. 

His newfound ‘friendship’ with Lance consisted of them sitting on Allura’s bed and staring at their sock feet until Allura returned with a towel over her shoulder. 

“Ready, Lance?” The white haired girl smiled, beckoning him to follow her, so he did. They walked into a small, tiled bathroom that seemed more modern than the rest of the house despite the mustard yellow and blue tiles. “You can hop into the bath, I won’t look.” Allura turned around, getting some shampoo and stuff ready. “I added bubbles, is that okay?” Her face fell flat as she waited for a response, humming quietly to herself. 

“Yeah… thank you.” Lance said, smiling over at Allura and quickly getting himself into the bath. He had 7 siblings, he didn’t mind people in the bathroom while he bathed, people in his family walked in and out all the time anyways. Plus, he wasn’t allowed to lock the door. That was a double digits privilege. Doubling over in pain, Lance’s small migraine returned at the vague memories. Of course, Allura didn’t know, she was turned away. So he played it off. Yet from in the hall, he caught Keith’s eyes. The pale boy was standing in the doorway to the bathroom, watching the scene in confusion. 

“You okay?” Keith mumbled, not wanting to sound too friendly even though he felt bad for the tan boy sitting in his bathtub. Then his eyes drew down to the necklace than Lance didn’t remove as the clasp keeping the necklace on had rusted shut from the salt water. “Whoa…” Keith said in awe, his eyes aimed at the charm of the necklace. “What happened?” He pointed, and it was then that Lance realized the scars on his chest branched out from that point. The shell at it’s normal resting position was the center of a sprawling, spider-web like pattern that crawled up his chest and neck, gracing his collarbone and shoulders until it faded. 

“You’re like Spiderman!” Keith gasped, starting towards the bath. “Are you a superhero? Did a spider bite you?” His small, demanding voice overwhelmed Lance quickly. 

“I-I’m Lance!” He insisted in confusion, raising his hands as if to shield himself. Surprise quickly shifted to his natural sibling defense: attitude. “How do I know you’re not Spiderman?” Lance countered, crossing his arms over his chest. “Huh?” He stuck his tongue out at the boy standing beside him, and turned his head away with a small grumble. 

Keith stuck his tongue out at Lance too, and stormed out of the bathroom to go and complain some more to Shiro about him. 

Allura laughed softly, “Keith can be a handful, huh hun?” She gently took Lance’s arm, scrubbing it down with some baby body wash and a washcloth. “Tell me if it hurts, okay? You need to be super clean before we can bandage you up.” She ruffled Lance’s hair and after about half an hour, Lance was standing and wrapped in a big, fluffy towel. 

“Thank you…” Lance felt the cleanest he had probably been in a week. Once he was dry and dressed in clothes borrowed from Keith, again, Allura began to wrap his chest with a cool compression wrap. The bright, angry red of the scar that branched out from his necklace was concerning, so Allura planned to take Lance to the doctor in the nearest town after the police office visit with Shiro. She had high hopes that his family had filed him missing and their son would soon be returned to them. Lance was very well mannered, obviously well raised. But his memory just wasn’t there. Her frown must have showed, because Lance had reached up and poked the corners of her mouth back up into a smile. The small blush on the Cuban boys cheeks was cute, and Allura giggled. 

“Silly.” She stood up. “You’re all done, hun!” Her hands were on her hips as she stared at her work. The boy was completely clean, looking like a fresh new boy. The cuts were covered, and there was a cooling cream on the bruises and rawer flesh. “Let’s go grab Shiro and head off to try and find your family!” Allura poked Lance’s nose and then motioned for him to follow again as she walked towards the kitchen, grabbing her keys off the hook by the door. “We’ll be back!” Allura called, just in case Keith was in the house. She had figured out pretty quickly that her uncle must be out in town, because his car was gone when they had arrived. “Tell Uncle Coran that we ran to Childress!” 

Shiro climbed into Allura’s olive green Jeep and smiled at Lance in the back seat. “Lookin’ good, Lance!” He held his hand out for a fist bump, which Lance gladly accepted. When Lance realized it was his cyborg hand, he played hurt. 

“Owwww!” He whined, shaking his hand dramatically and letting out a puff of breath, but the giant smile on the boys face told Shiro he was acting. 

“Oh man, you got me good.” Shiro pressed his hand to his chest and leaned back in his seat. “Near gave me a heart attack.” He laughed, then leaned in to talk to Allura quietly about their plans. 

Lance didn’t mind being left out of the conversation, something told him he was used to it. As the cactuses and sand flew by, warm wind whipped through his hair. Some of Allura’s hair had gotten loose from her pony tail and was tickling Lance in the face. He giggled and brushed it aside, finally getting a view of the small town that Allura had been talking about. Childress was a tiny town, and Lance watched as they drove slowly past various churches and markets, a school or two was pointed out to Lance by Shiro, but he was too fascinated at being in Texas than caring about school. 

Allura pulled in to a small blue building’s parking lot and shut off the Jeep. “Here we are! Come on, Lance!” She got out of the Jeep, watching Lance hop out after her. Shiro and Allura joined hands, and Shiro took a hold of Lance’s. Together they walked into the station, and Shiro went up to talk to the police as Lance and Allura hung about 3 feet behind him so that they were in view of the officer. 

“Thank you-” Lance heard, looking up as the officer spoke through his thick mustache. “How do you think he breathes?” Lance asked in awe, still staring at the police officer. He read the name tag as ‘Officer Topp.’

“He must be so stuffed up, it’s hot and that mustache blocks his nose holes!” Lance was fascinated by it, and turned to his left when he heard Allura whisper in that ear. 

“My uncle Coran looks a lot like that!” Her giggle was infectious. “He has a giant orange mustache! You really must see it some time!” Her finger came up and mimicked a mustache on her own face. This caused Lance to bust out into laughter, getting a friendly smile from the officer as he finished up his talk with Shiro. 

“Lance?” He asked, “Do you have a last name?” His voice was friendly, and he walked out from behind the desk, wanting the three of them to follow him into his office where it was more private. 

“Last name…” Lance hummed to himself, and tried to remember. “I don’t know-” He frowned. “My name is Lance…” The cuban frowned at the officer apologetically. “I don’t remember. I just… woke up.” Lance stared at Allura for reassurance, not sure if he was doing okay. When he received a gentle nod from her, he continued. “I just know I live somewhere warm-” He wrung the hem of his shirt between his hands, nervous talking to the policeman who was taking notes on everything he said. This went on for about half an hour and the officer attempting to get Lance to remember something that wasn’t there. “It’s frozen!” Lance would say simply, as if the wall of ice in his brain made sense to everyone else. 

“Thank you, Lance.” The officer spoke kindly, though exasperated, “If you want, you can sit with DQ over there-” Officer Topp gestured over to a cat who was curled up on a chair in the sun. 

When Lance wandered off to go make friends with the cat, Officer Topp leaned forwards and spoke softly to Allura and Shiro. “There are no current cases that I can think of, but I’ll get this data in to the higher ups. If there is a missing report, we’ll find it.” He assured them. “We can take him in and get him set up with a foster parent until his are found, if you would like to help with that process.”

Allura bit her cheek. “I’m sure my uncle wouldn’t mind fostering him-” She didn’t want Lance, a sweet, innocent boy, to end up in a cruel system like foster care. “We really would enjoy having him around.” She cast a smile towards the officer. “Would he be able to?” Allura was very personable, and often found it easy to persuade people. This came in handy when the officer sighed and nodded, “I’ll send our social worker home with you to set up the process. I’ll get your number just so we can keep in touch about the case.” He glanced up expectantly, pen poised over the paper, ready to scribble her number. 

Shiro walked over to Lance, “Come on, bud. We’re going to go home. You’re going to have a sleepover with Keith until we find your parents! Officer Topp is going to look really hard, okay?” 

“Okay…” Lance nodded, his fingertips warily trailing over the sleeping cat’s head fur. “Can I use sleeping bag…?” He felt bad for being needy, but Shiro just laughed. 

“Keith’s been needing a new bed, we can grab a bunk bed from the home center on the way home. You two might have to fight for top bunk, though.” He teased, easing the worried look on Lance’s face. “Don’t worry, you’re part of the family for now!” Shiro cast a soft smile to Lance. “Trust me, you’ll fit in just fine.” Together the two of them left the police station, Lance chattering softly to get over his nervousness. 

Allura spotted the two of them sitting in the Jeep as they talked, and frowned a little. She had a feeling they would get too attached to the boy only for him to go back to a family. Not wanting to be selfish, Allura shook her head and walked off to get into the drivers side. 

“Lance, want to stop and get some hot chocolate or anything?” Allura pulled right out of the police station, going further into town. 

“Sure!” Lance gasped, leaning forwards and pressing his cheek against Alluras headrest. “I like hot chocolate!” Allura managed to catch his wide smile in the rearview mirror. 

“Okay!” Allura smiled, leaning into her seat and taking a right into a rustic looking shop. “We can get drinks here!” She hopped out, holding the door open for Lance. “I’ll pick up Keith’s favorite too. Vanilla steamer, right, Shiro?” At Shiro’s nod, Allura head into the shop with Lance’s hand in hers. 

Once their drinks were ordered, Allura led Lance into a gift shop section inside the shop. “You can look around while I wait for our drinks!” She let go of his hand and turned to go wait by the counter. 

This gave Lance some time to adventure the shop, making note of different sections and colors. The whole shop gave Lance a good feeling, like home. It was cluttered in a way that worked, and he felt himself frown as they left, wishing there was more time to explore. But Lance’s sadness was soon forgotten when Allura handed him a steamy, chocolate drink. 

“Thank you!” He squeaked and blew gently in the straw area to cool it off. However, it didn’t cool off completely until they reached Shiro’s and Allura’s house. This time Shiro helped him out of the car, and smiled at the car parked in the driveway. Lance took note of it as well- But I mean, who wouldn’t miss the big, white VW bus covered in bumper stickers. 

An ‘adopt don’t shop’ stuck out to Lance, and he traced the paw print sticker with his finger. “Do you have any pets?” Lance asked in interest, looking up at Allura. Lance liked animals, but he knew he had never had one of his own. “I think they’re cute…” He thought of dogs and cats, smiling to himself. 

“We don’t have any.” Allura smiled, “But we really should. We have a ton of space out here, 50 acres, actually.” She waved her hand. “Basically all you see that way is our land.” Allura hummed, “Maybe you could convince my uncle.” She gently bumped him with her hip and head into the house. “Keith!” She called, “We got you a steamer!” She set the drink on the counter, then opened the fridge. “What do you want for lunch, Lance?” 

Lance was taking small sips from his hot chocolate, staring at Keith’s drink that was releasing a small trail of steam. “I’ll eat anything-” Lance said, blushing in apology for his delayed response. “Just no lemon-” He puffed out his cheeks. “I don’t really like lemon…” 

“Alright-” Allura began, until Keith barreled into her from down the stairs. 

“Thank you!” Keith said quickly into her stomach as he squeezed her in a hug, grabbed the drink, and vanished. 

“What-” Lance looked surprised. Keith wasn’t very talkative, he figured. “Does he not want lunch?” The Cubans eyes trailed after where Keith had exited the kitchen, down the long hallway where Allura had gone to drop off the beach supplies. 

“Oh, he’s probably hungry. I’ll make him a sandwich, then you can go find him. I’m sure you two will have fun! Keith is outside somewhere, no one knows what he does out there.” Allura laughed. “But maybe you can join him.” 

She began to make a sandwich, one tune for herself, a tuna for Keith, and an egg salad for Lance and Shiro. “Here, take this to Keith. This one's for you.” Allura presented the boy with two nicely wrapped sandwiches, one lettered with a large K while the other had an L for Lance. “Take a water bottle-” She held one out, “and go find Keith!”

Lance smiled, taking the water and sandwiches into his hands and turned down the hall after setting his empty hot chocolate down. He followed where he had seen the shorter boy go, and peeked into the door. It was an open garage, a bike and an old broken down car parked inside. Lance, set with determination, head out into the familiar heat. Though he began to sweat, the boy was running lines through his head for when he ran into Keith. 

What are you doing? Allura made this sandwich for you… Do you want any water? How old are you? You wanna play a game? Lance frowned as he looked around the barren landscape, something drawing him south. 

After about 15 minutes of walking, avoiding cactuses and slopes, he made it to a stream that looked like it was supposed to be a river. The bank stretched farther than the water did, and Lance noticed footprints in the stream bed. They headed to the East, upriver. 

As Lance followed the footsteps, he began to sing softly to himself. It was a song he remembered, but didn’t know who had taught it to him. 

Before Lance could finish the song, he saw the footprints veer left. So he followed them. They only led off the river for about 5 minutes until they came to a stop. A rocky outcropping opened up into a well shielded, safe feeling grotto area. A large rock bluff curved in to make a shallow cave area. Cactus and bushes surrounded the area, making it invisible to planes or passer-bys  unless you were looking for it. His admiration was cut short but a sharp cough from his left. When Lance whipped around, the water bottle bounced out of his arms and to the ground. 

“How did you find me?” Keith asked, his voice accusing. “You stalked me?”

“N-No!” Lance said, panicked. All his practiced lines went out the window and he winced at the harsh tone. “Allura asked me to bring you a sandwich so I followed footprints.” He held out the sandwich with the K on it. “This is yours…” Lance said meekly, not wanting to upset the boy any further. When he noticed Keith’s expression soften, he took a chance. “A-and I was wondering if I could play out here too…” He gripped his sandwich gently, not wanting to damage 

There was an awkward silence. “S-Sorry-” Lance mumbled, then crouched down to pick up his water bottle and leave. 

“No-” Keith said softly. “It’s okay…” Then he began to look around, as if making sure no one was watching him. Then he stepped in, close to Lance. Keith cupped his hand over Lance’s ear and whispered, “Can I show you something?” He leaned back quickly again, and began to look around again. 

“Sure, whaddya wanna show me?” Lance asked aloud, tilting his head. 

“Shh! They’ll hear you!” Keith whispered in a frantic voice, and waved his hands as a warning to stop. He beckoned Lance to follow him, and the Korean boy walked towards the wall of the bluff. “I found this while I was out here exploring.” He waved a hand and pushed aside some bushes that were against the wall. 

There was a small opening, and it smelled musty. 

Lance couldn’t believe it. “Wow…” He stared wide eyed at the entrance. “Are we going in there?”

“Of course!” Keith said, his voice quiet. “Come on!” He disappeared into the entrance, fitting pretty well considering he was small. 

Lance easily squeezed in after him, and if his breath was taken away. There was very little light in here, and there was a cool draft blowing from further down the cave. But you could see pictures on the wall, glowing white as if they were 

Unaware of Keith’s wary gaze, Lance gasped in awe. “It’s so… cool.” Keith’s expression melted into a soft smile, and he turned to face the wall. 

“There are glow worms in here, and they make the pictures glow.” Keith explained. “I don’t know what the pictures are though.” He shook his head and traced a small sun painting with his finger. 

“They look old.” Lance whispered, feeling like being too loud would make the cave shatter. “Thank you for showing me.” He smiled at Keith, a genuine look of awe on his face. “It’s really really cool.” Lance spent a few minutes taking in the paintings left by people years before him. “What’s down there…?” Lance asked, peeking past Keith and into the widening expanse of cave past him. It was too dark to see down it.

“I… don’t know.” Keith shook his head. “I’ve never been down there.” He smiled. “I like to look at these paintings, but there might be more. Want to check it out?” Keith made it seem like a challenge, but Lance was giddy with excitement at an adventure. 

“Sure!” He agreed quickly, taking Keith’s hand, and marching down the hall.

“Wait!” Keith said, tugging Lance’s arm. “Let’s go get some light first! I’ll race you back home! First to get the flashlight wins!” Without waiting for Lance’s reply, Keith booked it out of the cave. 

“Hey!” Lance said in indignation, “That’s not fair!” He took off after Keith, though, laughing. By the time they reached the house, Lance’s longer legs had allowed him to beat Keith. But he had no idea where the flashlight was, so he milled around the porch and looked for Keith to approach. 

“Jeez, man!” Keith panted, “What are you, the Flash?” But his angry tone was equaled out by the smile he wore. 

“Race you back?” Lance grinned, laughing at how tired Keith was. Lance felt fine, his heart rate was already back to normal, though it had barely jumped. Running was effortless for Lance, just like most sports. Gifted with long limbs, Lance had an easy reach for any kind of net he encountered. 

And off they went.

Lance won again, of course, but only stayed about 2 feet in front of Keith so they could talk as they ran. Bad practice, but at that point they had slowed to a jog. 

“What’s your family like?” Keith finally asked- a question Lance knew would be unavoidable eventually. 

“I don’t… remember.” Lance looked up at Keith with an unreadable expression. “I woke up on a beach in mexico and that’s when Shiro and Allura found me…” He frowned. “So… what about you?” He asked quickly, not wanting to dwell on the topic of his family. 

“My mom died when I was really little and my dad left me…” Keith breathed through his nose, seeming a little emotionless on the topic. “I was in a foster home for a while, and then Shiro’s parents adopted me… But they had to go off on a long business trip, so the two of us are living with Coran and Allura.” Keith nodded, “Allura is like a really good older sister, better than having none.” He added.

Lance smiled, “I think I have an older sister… I don’t know. I know how mean they can be.” He offered, trying to lighten the situation. He was a little sad for Keith’s situation but didn’t want to push it. 

“Mm.” Keith nodded, looking over at Lance after the last 5 minutes of the run ended in silence. “Ready?” He held up the flashlight, resting it on his shoulder. 

“Yeah!” Lance grinned, pushing his way after Keith into the cave. They passed the first set of paintings and began to wander further into the cave, the flashlight lighting up the cavern. 

Lance could hear a small trickle of water from somewhere. “What is that?” Lance asked, looking around in confusion. They were in Texas, in a cave, underground. Where was there water?

“What is what?” Keith glanced at Lance, a small frown on his face. “There was nothing, don’t scare me, Lance.” Keith turned back to face forwards and took another step. They walked for a while, and the calming sound of their feet pattering on the floor was cut off when Keith disappeared in front of Lance with a screech. 

“Keith?” Lance dropped to the floor and peered over the edge of a drop off that Keith had slipped down. “Are you okay?” His voice was flooded with worry. “Keith!” He yelled, his fingers curling over the edge and digging into the dirt. 

“I’m okay…” Keith’s voice was faint. “I hit my knee.” He said, pouting. “Can you see the flashlight up there? I think I dropped it.” 

Lance looked around, and spotted the flashlight next to him, turned off. “I got it!” He called back down. “Here!” He turned the light on, and cast it down towards Keith’s voice. He saw Keith on his back, laying in a stream of water about 15 feet down. 

“I told you I heard something! It was the water.” Lance said smugly. 

“This isn’t the time!” Keith complained, pushing himself up. “I hurt everywhere, get me back up there!” 

“I-” Lance was going to help, but then realized he had no way to actually retrieve Keith. “I have no way to get you back up!” He leaned back over the edge. “Um… I could go get Shiro-” Lance was immediately rejected.

“No!” Keith said suddenly. “Shiro would kill me if he knew I was walking around some cave with you!” He looked around. “There has to be another way out…” Keith frowned and tried to pull himself up the wall, only pulling rocks and dirt back down onto his head. 

“Keith?” Lance inquired, a plan forming in his head. “Which way is the water going?” 

“I think it’s going to my left.” Keith said, splashing around a little until he made a ‘mhm’ noise. “Yeah, left. Why?” He leaned back to look up at Lance’s dimly illuminated face.

“Does the cave open more to the right?” He asked, smiling.

“Yeah,  why?” Keith repeated, his face scrunching up in frustration. 

“Go to the right! If the water is going left, it must be coming downhill from the right!” Lance smiled, “There must be an entrance by the river!” He looked around. “Should I get down there too?” Lance wondered aloud. 

“No! Just toss me the flashlight and wait there, when I get out I’ll come get you. If I don’t find a way out, I’ll come back down here and then, and only then, can you get Shiro.” Keith said in defeat. “Okay, Lance?”

“Okay… stay safe.” Lance said softly, his voice betraying his worry.

“Okay.” Keith said, and marched off up the stream. 

Keith looked around, noticing some glow worms along the walls of the smaller branch of cave. The water had soaked through his boots, and he was very uncomfortable. The walls were closing in on him, causing him to have to pull in his shoulders and duck his head. 

Then he saw light.

With a small yell of glee, Keith rushed forwards, getting on his hands and knees, and digging the exit a little bigger. When Keith got out, he was muddy, dirty, and wet. But he was free. Keith smiled, about to head home, until he remembered Lance. Glancing at the river, he tried to guess which way his hideout was. With a small shrug, he head right and took off at a limping run. 

When Keith returned to the cave, his knee was soaked in blood from the fall. It mixed with the water and caused trails of blood to cascade down his exposed calf. It looked worse than it was, to be honest. 

Lance was still leaned over the edge, his heart thundering in the dark of the cave. “Keith?” He asked, turning around when he heard footsteps. “Is that you?”

“Yeah!” Keith turned the corner, grinning. “That was a really good idea, Lance.” He was mostly thankful they didn’t have to go get Shiro, but Lance did help him a lot. “Could we head home so I can wash off my leg?” Keith was a little proud of something that would most definitely scar, showing it off.

“Oh my God, are you okay?” Lance asked, crouching down quickly and staring at his knee. “I’m sorry you fell! Let’s get you home quickly!” He slipped an arm around Keith to support him. “Don’t worry!”

Keith shrugged uncomfortably, but was grateful for the help. His leg did hurt, too much to walk all the way home alone. Plus he was soaking wet, so Lance was being really selfless. “You don’t have to-” He said softly, looking over at Lance. “I’m all wet-”

Lance shook his head. “I can always dry off.” He smiled, “Your knee can’t just get hung up outside to get better, it’s fine!”

Keith snorted at the image and leaned against Lance as they walked back towards his house. 

Allura just about lost it when Lance dragged a mangled looking Keith into the house. “What happened?” She asked, throwing her hands up. Keith opened his mouth, but shut it when Shiro walked out of the living room. 

“Good God, Keith, what happened?” His voice was a little concerned, and a little harsh.

“I accidentally pushed him into the river!” Lance said, lying through his teeth. He cast an apologetic smile to Keith. “We were playing and I didn’t mean to push him too hard, but he tripped and landed on a rock in the river.” Lance didn’t want Keith to get in trouble for what had happened, nor did he want them banned from going to that cave.

Keith gave a small smile back, very thankful for how fluent Lance was in the language of lies. “Yeah…” His voice was soft, and he looked at Shiro like a hurt puppy.

“Oh, Keith. I’m sorry.” Shiro uncrossed his arms and walked up to take Keith to the bathroom to wash off.

“Thanks for helping him back, Lance. It’s okay, Keith’s a tough kid, you don’t have to look so worried.” Allura smiled, “You didn’t mean to push him, accidents happen.” Her voice calmed Lance down a little, and she gently took Lance’s hand. “Let’s go get you set up in Keith’s room. You two were gone for a good few hours so Shiro and I had time to set up a bunk bed!”

Together, the two of them walked into Keith’s room where Shiro was already getting Keith into bed. 

“Too slow.” Keith stuck his tongue out at Lance from the top bunk. “I got the top bunk.”

“Awe.” Lance whined, putting up a show. But inside, he smiled, and sat himself down on the bottom bunk. He was just happy to be welcomed here, and the bottom bunk was always his favorite, anyways. 

Allura leaned against Shiro in the doorway, smiling at the two boys. “Do you think-” She asked softly, looking up at the taller man. 

“I don’t think so…” Shiro shook his head, “if there isn’t a call by the end of the week…” He took a small breath. “We’d better let Coran know you have a little brother.” 

Allura frowned, looking over to see Lance had already pulled on the pair of pajamas that had been laid out for him, and was arguing with Keith. “I hope he finds his family-” She pat Shiro’s chest. “Thanks for helping me go out and get the bed. The two of them seem happy with it.”

“No problem.” Shiro squeezed Allura. “Just worry about feeding him and clothing him, I’ll do all the heavy lifting.” He joked. “Just… let me know if you need anything.” He said quietly, the two of them turning and walking to their respective rooms. 

“Of course.” Allura nodded, and stepped into her room. “Good night, Shiro.”

“Good night, Princess.” He teased and walked down the hall to his room.

Lance argued with Keith a little longer about if water was wet, at what point was someone a cyborg, and if tuna or egg was better. They had to make a compromise all 3 times. 

He was almost asleep when he heard Keith’s soft whisper. 

“Thanks, by the way… For covering for me.” Keith was staring at the ceiling with open eyes. “That was really cool…” He fell quiet, not used to thanking or complimenting people. 

“It’s no problem.” Lance insisted, “It’s what… friends do for each other.”

“Friends?” 

“Yeah…We’re friends, right? I helped save you from imminent death.  Amd I mean who has a sleepover with someone who isn’t their friend, anyways. We must be friends. Goodnight, Keith-” He said when he realized he was talking to silence. 

“Goodnight, Keith…” He repeated softly, as if realizing he wasn’t at house. But Lance had found a home far away from where he lived.

As he pulled the covers up to cover his nose, Lance felt completely safe for the first time since waking up on that beach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully that was long enough because I take forever to write wow


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap it was not supposed to be this long since I updated. I'll try to update faster next time

Two months. 

Two months of hot desert winds, sleepless nights, arguing with Keith, and not knowing who he was. 

Lance’s family had not reached out to him despite the found kid papers released in Texas and Mexico. Shiro and Allura spent more than a month searching the internet trying to find a lead on their guest. But by the time school was due to start in September, Lance’s hope of finding his family had been reduced to a small ember on a dying candle. 

The world was bigger than Lance had ever thought.

Texan police officers told Allura it was a lost cause, and Lance could either keep living in foster care with them, get adopted, or go off to an orphanage in Houston.

Coran was the one to break the news on an unusually bleak, stormy day. They were trapped in the house, drinking hot cocoa and playing board games. 

“Lance, my boy.”

“Yeah, Coran?” Lance looked up with a warm, content expression. He had just tied Keith at Chutes and Ladders and they were about to settle the score by an intense game of Mouse Trap. 

“You know we’ve been trying to find your family for a long time…” Coran began warily, not realizing he had managed to catch Keith’s attention in addition to his intended audience. “I think it’s time we talk about the future-”

Lance’s eyes clouded. He shouldn’t be surprised, something in him knew he was a lost cause. What was Coran going to do? Send him away? Put him in an orphanage? Kick him out? Auction him off? 

The boys mind reeled as Coran continued to talk, unaware that he was just blankly staring at Coran with wide eyes. 

“Lance-” Coran said, snapping the Cuban boy out of his state. “I was wondering if that was what you wanted-”

“Was what I wanted…?” Lance hadn’t been paying attention, and his voice still sounded far off. He didn’t notice Keith’s round face etched with a look of shock. 

“Allura and I were talking and we decided that I could adopt you.” Coran smiled at Lance. “We think you fit in perfectly with our family… if that’s alright with you. We can always keep looking for your family, you know we will-”

Coran never got to finish; he was cut off by the small boy wrapping him in a big hug. Tears rolled down Lance’s face as he sobbed a yes, too emotional to even register how much he was overreacting. “T-Thank you.” Lance hiccuped and cried into Coran’s light blue button up. “I promise I’ll be good! I swear I’ll do my chores and help around the house and teach Keith basic math!” 

Even in hysterics, Lance had to call out his friend. It had earned a small huff of anger from the Asian boy still sitting next to them.

As the tears dried and the final ‘thank yous’ were bawled, Lance rubbed his eyes tiredly. Then he reached up, playing gently with the small necklace around his neck. The metal was cool, feeling comfortable and familiar in his hand. It had become a nervous habit of his to play with the slightly rusted necklace, keeping him distracted when he felt like a burden. 

“Coran…?” He asked, looking up quietly. “Do you think I’ll ever find my family again? Can you be honest with me, man to man?” He attempted to puff out his chest and look manly, but he only looked slightly less deflated than before.

If it weren’t such a sad sight, Coran would have smiled (and maybe even laughed) at Lance’s bravado prose. But the sadness on his chubby face was heartbreaking. He took in a soft breath, gently looping an arm around Lance and pulling him close. Attempting to comfort him, Coran rubbed his back before he spoke. 

“Honestly, Lance. I don’t know.” Coran nudged Lance gently. “But we know they’re out there somewhere, yeah? And I promise we’ll look for them every chance we get. But for now, if we adopt you, you’ll be safe with Allura and I!” He put a hand on Lance’s tangled brown locks. “It’s going to be just fine. We’re going to enroll you in school over in the city!” Coran hummed, “You’re ten years old, so you and Keith will be in the same grade!” 

The cheer in Coran’s voice just barely thawed the frozen barrier around his heart.

X X X 

A month later, Lance was standing outside the Childress Elementary School, one hand tight around Coran’s while Keith sulked next to them. It was Lance’s technical first day of school, since he barely remembered the ones from his past life. With a shaky breath, Lance allowed Coran to pull him into the office as Keith went to class.

Washed blue jeans cinched with a dark brown belt, accompanied by a light blue button up was Lance’s first day of school outfit. 

There was a dark blue, almost black backpack sitting on his shoulders that was full of new supplies. Each pencil was labeled with his name. “Lance Smythe.” Ever since Coran adopted the Cuban boy, that was what his last name was. There was no way for any of them to tell what Lance’s last name was, since he didn’t remember it. Their only sign was the beat up life jacket that Lance had floated to Mexico in. The back of it had been written on, but the sea and time had worn away most of the lettering. ‘Mc’, ‘a’ and ‘n’ were all that remained on the old orange life jacket, so that’s what they made his middle name. Lance Mcan Smythe. It wasn’t the best middle name, but Lance had wanted to keep what he could of his past life.

Since no one knew his birthday and no one knew how old he was, they chose to make his birthday the day Shiro and Allura found him. His birthday, now August 4th, put him in Keith’s year, fourth grade. 

As Coran explained the situation to the Childress elementary school principal,, Lance glanced around the office. It was a soft tan, and there were pictures of children and art lining the walls. Framed degrees were hung above the Principal's desk. On the desk itself were pictures of the Principal hugging two younger children. They looked vastly different than the principal herself, which made Lance intrigued. One of the children had dark, warm skin and black curly hair. Her smile was much more prominent than the lighter boy next to her who had a forced, closed smile on his face. 

“Who are they?” Lance interrupted, leaning forwards and pointing at the picture over the desk. 

“Who?” The Principal looked over at Lance and then smiled. “Oh! Those are my children, Kaya and William! You want to know a secret?” She asked, leaning a little closer to Lance’s ear. “They’re adopted! Kaya is from Africa and WIlliam is from here in America!” 

Lance stared at the Principal in surprise. “Really?”

“Really!” She confirmed, turning back to finish up the paperwork for Coran. “They’re going to be a class ahead of you!” She said, “Both are in fifth grade! I’m sure they would be willing to help you out if you have any questions!” She hummed, handing the paperwork to Coran. 

“Thank you!” Lance called back as he and Coran left the office to head towards Lance’s class. Unluckily, Keith’s class was full by the time they enrolled Lance, so Lance was in the class across the hall. He had Mr. Holt, an older looking man with rectangular glasses. Immediately Lance fell in love with the classroom, space posters lining the walls and models of planets and spaceships were hung from the ceiling.

With final goodbyes, Lance waved to Coran and went to introduce himself to his new teacher. 

Mr. Holt had called Lance up the front after he gave his own introduction so that the young boy could let the class know about him. 

“My name is Lance Mc…. Lance Smythe.” He shook his hand nervously. “I think I’m 10 years old and I like the ocean… and space.” Lance smiled at the ceiling, “My favorite color is blue!” The short introduction led into partner work and name games that Lance personally enjoyed. They colored and took a math pretest, letting Mr. Holt know where everyone was at from last year.

Despite not remembering anything from his past, Lance had aced the math test. When he had seen the paper, everything had just made sense to him. It made him feel a little more comfortable and a little more welcome. After school, Mr. Holt congratulated him with a small sticker of a planet.

“What planet is this?” Lance asked, staring at the sparkly round sticker. 

“It’s a moon called Kerberos.” Mr. Holt said softly, crouching down to smile at Lance. “Someday, I’m going to get in a spaceship and I’m going to get up there myself!” 

“Where is it?” Lance wondered, entranced by the sticker. 

“It’s a moon off of Pluto. Do you know where Pluto is?” Mr. Holt asked his student, standing up. When he received a shaking head as an answer, he pulled a diagram down from a wall. “It’s right here.” Mr. Holt pointed to the small sphere. “And here’s Earth!” He gestured to their own blue planet. 

Lance was slowly beginning to grin. “Is this saturn?” He pointed to the slightly larger planet with rings.

“Good job, Lance!” Mr. Holt seemed impressed. “If you keep studying, you could be a great astronomer or spaceman someday!” Mr. Holt rolled up the diagram and taped it shut. “Here.” He held it out for Lance. “You can keep it! Keep studying, okay?” The teacher smiled at Lance.

“Thank you!” Lance gasped in awe, taking the poster into his arms. “I’m so excited for school!” He bounced lightly on his toes, “I wanna be a spaceman!” 

“I’m sure you’ll do amazing!” Mr. Holt said reassuringly, then pat Lance’s shoulder. “You should head out to your car, I’m sure someone’s waiting for you!” He turned, “See you tomorrow, Lance!”

Lance left the classroom grinning, only to stumble outside to find no busses or cars. Everyone was already gone. He must have spent more time in Mr. Holt’s classroom than he realized. On the verge of tears, Lance wandered around for any signs of Keith. He didn’t know that his friend had gotten on the school bus home, leaving Lance behind on accident. 

He walked off of school property, prepared to walk home if he had to. But he didn’t know the way home. Desperate to get out of the heat, he unconsciously followed the smell of wet mud. When he arrived, he found a shallow lake or a deep pond. Either way, it was cooler here. He sat under the shade of a tree and took off his backpack. Staring out at the water, Lance’s heart pounded. He hated being lost. What if they never found him?

Lance kept panicking, unaware of the water breaking in front of him to reveal small person stepping out. It wasn’t until the body was standing in front of him and dripping onto his shoes that Lance looked up, tears streaming down his cheeks. 

“Who are you?” The person asked accusingly, a strong voice for such a small figure. Round glasses with the lenses popped out sat on their face, a green tanktop clinging to their skin.

“M-My name is Lance.” He stuttered, staring at the person in surprise. 

“My name is Katie.” They leaned forwards, revealing long hair that clung to a childish face. 

“Um-” Lance surveyed them, eyes wide. 

“It’s not polite to stare at a lady!” She put her hands on her hips, looking slightly offended.

“I’m sorry!” Lance scrambled to his feet, finding he stood about three inches taller than the girl in front of him. “I’m just lost-” He faltered. “Wait, why did you come out of the lake?” 

Katie snorted, “I was looking for rocks or pieces of metal.” She waved a hand. “My idiot brother is convinced that this lake is a crater from a U.F.O hitting it. “So far I’ve only found some garbage people have thrown in there.” She gestured to a small pile of soda cans, beer bottles, and other various trash that sat near the shore. 

“U.F.O? Like space?” Lance asked, suddenly interested

“No.” Katie rolled her eyes.”U.F.O like Unbelievably Fun Object.” Her tone was sarcastic, but Lance could tell she was just as interested in the U.F.O as her brother seemed to be.

“So why are you diving for it?” He asked, starting to laugh. “And not your brother?” 

“My brother is in Arizona…” She admitted quietly, looking down at her feet. “He’s studying astrophysics and geology at the Garrison.” She offered when Lance looked confused. “He wants to go to space and study planets.”

“Wow!” Lance said, looking up at the sky. “I wanna do that too, someday!” 

“I want to too… But the Garrison is boys only.” She stuck her tongue out in annoyance, “Matt said it’s like a boarding school, and only ‘men’ can go there.” The finger quotes made Lance snicker. 

Katie grinned, “You should come help me look for space stuff sometime though!” She pointed at the lake. “There’s a whole ocean waiting for us!” While she was exaggerating, both kids were infatuated with the idea of finding something from space. 

“Okay!” Lance agreed. “I live kinda far away though. But I go to school here, do you?” He tilted his head. 

The shorter female shook her head. “I’m homeschooled. My mom teaches me the normal stuff during the day and my dad teaches me about space after he gets home from work!” 

With a small gasp, Lance looked at her. “Wow! Homeschooling sounds super fun!” 

Katie scuffed the ground with her foot. “It’s nice to be with my mom all day, but…” She trailed off before saying more.

“But?” Lance prodded, looking at her in interest. 

“But I don’t make any friends.” Katie huffed. “My brother was my best friend, but he moved away to Arizona for who knows how long!” Her arms shook at her sides and she bit her lip nervously despite the angry facade. 

Lance recognized that expression. It was one Keith often wore when something wasn’t going his way. Katie was upset, frustrated, and disappointed. A small grin grew on his face, he knew just how to deal with it. 

Silently, he thanked his emotionally detached friend for being so difficult, then he refocused on Katie. If there was one thing Keith’s temper had taught him, it was to derail the situation. Change the topic. 

“Hey!” Lance put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m your friend now! And we can go hunting for space treasure together!” He pointed to the pile of trash Katie had accumulated from who knows how long of swimming in the lake. 

A small sigh, then a smile. “Yeah, that would be fun.” Katie motioned for Lance to follow her as she went towards the small group of trees nearby. “There’s one thing I haven’t showed you yet.” Her hand fell to her side and she glanced back at Lance, who simply smiled and followed her with his space poster in hand.

The small blue and black backpack was forgotten next to the tree where Lance had just been crying. 

X X X

Katie led Lance into the trees, staying quiet for the three minutes they walked. Then she stopped abruptly, Lance nearly stepping on her heels. “Sorry!” He whispered, backing up as Katie surveyed the area. 

A smile grew on her face, one much more devious than he had seen on her yet. “You ready for this?” Katie asked, bending down a little and looking at Lance expectantly. 

“Sure!” Lance said, pulling the poster close to his chest in anticipation as he watched Katie lean down fully and brush away a few leaves. There, beneath the dying foliage, was a glint of metal. Then a latch, then a handle.

“Welcome,” Katie began dramatically, “To the Bunker al la Holt!” Her eyes were bright- a stark contrast to the stairway down that loomed before him as Katie opened the door in the ground. 

“A bunker?” Lance asked, his eyebrows drawn together in concern. “Whats a bunker?” He didn’t know much about them, or why people built them. But he knew from some old movie that people would hide in them. 

“Bunkers like this one were built to protect us from nuclear warfare!” Katie said proudly, patting the side of the bunker as she began to go down. “Come on in…” Her voice trailed off the further down she went. Not wanting to be left alone in the middle of Childress, Lance took a big breath of air, and followed her. 

He had expected the air to be musty and thick from years locked underground, but Lance was pleasantly surprised by the fresh smell of roses that lingered around the dark room. It was clean, and reminded Lance of days sitting in a garden under the beating sun with a lemonade, watching his mother pick roses. 

_ouch_

Rubbing his head, the lights began to flicker on around him. 

That’s when he was really amazed. 

The bunkers grey walls were covered from ceiling to floor with diagrams, posters, and pictures of planets and stars. Maps of constellations lined just one wall by themself. What Lance had originally thought was christmas lights turned out to be fairy lights shaped like planets strung around the walls to give a soft, home-y glow. An old fashioned television set was plugged in next to the movies, accompanied by a few giant bean bags and mismatched pillows. Every sci-fi movie you could think of was in a bookshelf off to the left of the TV, while magazines and books filled the one on the right.

“Katie…” Lance said, turning in a circle. “This is so cool!” He let out a tiny squeal and head off to look at the constellation wall. The Cuban missed the conflicted look on his friends face. 

“Each wall is something different.” Katie said, walking over to stand next to him. “This is constellations, the next is planets, the third is blue prints, and the one with the TV on it is the memory wall…” Her face brightened as she talked about the bunker. 

“This is like a secret clubhouse! Are you sure you don’t work for the government?” He teased, admiring the stars that were meticulously mapped out.

He received a small snort of sarcasm before the reply, which was a lot more sentimental than the snort. “I’m sure… Matt and I would always joke about it though. My secret agent name was Pidgeon and his was Orion…” She let her eyes trail to one of the constellations. 

“Pidgeon…” Lance thought, smiling at the nickname possibilities that lay in their future.

“Well!” Katie leaned back dramatically. “Anyways, this can be our base of operations!” She gestured around. “I could get some snacks and bring them over for when we’re done with searching too!” 

“Okay!” He agreed happily, bouncing on his feet. He looked at the poster in his hands, then at the walls. Looking at Katie, who nodded, there was a mutual agreement that Lance should put his first addition up in the bunker. “I got it at school.” Lance said, using pins that Katie gave him to add his space poster up on the planet wall. “Now you can teach me about the planets when we’re together!”

“That sounds fun!” Katie smiled, “We should go up now though, my dad is probably back from work so I gotta start my own space lessons!” She waved for Lance to follow, and both kids ran up the stairs and sealed their secret up behind them.

The two of them smiled at each other, and agreed to meet tomorrow right after Lance got out of school. Lance left in the direction they had came, while Katie went around the other way, saying she lived about 5 minutes around the lake. 

At the edge of the woods, Lance came into earshot of crying. His heart skipped a beat in worry, and he took off at a run with the intent of comforting whoever was upset. But when he was able to see who was crying, he almost tripped. It was Allura, clutching his backpack close to her. Before he could interrupt, he heard Shiro talk. 

“Allura…” His voice sounded hoarse. “We need to contact the police. They’ll find him.” 

“But Shiro!” If Shiro’s voice was scratchy, Allura’s was practically gone. Her tears choked her as she tried to speak, “He might have fallen in the lake! What if he’s gone?” She set the backpack down and hiccuped. 

Blood rushed to Lance’s face and he looked down, feeling horrible. He had made them worry. “‘Lurra!” Lance called, and sprinted towards them. He pushed himself into Allura’s arms and hugged her. “I’m fine!” 

Allura gasped, and then began to laugh weakly, a hint of anger in her voice as she spoke. “Lance! Where were you? Keith said you never got on the bus!” 

Lance’s face screwed up in confusion. “I was supposed to ride the bus?” He glanced from Allura to Shiro, who face palmed. 

“I forgot to tell you.” He groaned, lifting his hand off of Allura’s back. “I’m so sorry, Lance.”

“It’s okay!” Lance said, smiling up at Shiro. “I made a friend instead!” 

“Really? Tell us all about it in the car ride home, okay?” Allura broke into their conversation, ruffling Lance’s hair. She had been so worried a few moments ago, feeling like she had failed as a sister to the young boy. Buckling him up in the jeep, she settled into the passenger's seat. A soft sigh left her as she listened to Lance ramble about his day, up to the point of meeting Katie. But instead of calling her Katie, he grinned, deciding to be mysterious. 

“I met a girl named Pidgeon! She came out of the lake.” He said, as if that was completely normal, and picked at the foam coming out of the jeeps old and worn seats. 

“Pidgeon who came out of the lake?” Allura looked at Lance incredulously. “What does that mean?” 

“I met a girl! She lives on the lake.” Lance explained, “We’re gonna go to space together…”

Allura exchanged a glance with Shiro, then smiled. “Space, huh?” There was a small, absent nod from Lance. Then she leaned back in her seat, “that sounds like a pretty good job, Lance.” She knew that Lance would be great at whatever he put his mind to, and a sisterly pride grew in her stomach. The boy she saw as a little brother was going to do great things. 

X X X

When the bell rang for Lance’s only recess in 6th grade, he stood up. His past two years at Childress Elementary School had been full of making friends and adventures and space lessons almost every day with Katie, who he had began to endearingly call Pidge. Mr. Holt had left towards the end of Lance’s 5th grade year to go teach at the Garrison, which made him a little sad, he was his first and favorite teacher. Lance didn’t know why Pidge hadn’t shown up that week. The nagging thought that his family was looking for him faded away over the past two years as Coran finalized his adoption papers a few months ago. Allura and Lance had grown closer, bonding over gossip and TV shows. Lance and Shiro talked about space and piloting. 

However, despite all of his time spent studying the galaxy, he did not fail to learn one very important thing about school:

Get to the swingset first. 

Lance let out a laugh, grabbing on to the chains of the swingset that was in his school's playground. His best friend, Hunk, was pushing him from behind. 

“Higher!” Lance insisted, his grip on the swing tightening. “I wanna do a loop!” He grinned, leaning forwards a bit. An uninterested Keith stood nearby, watching Lance and Hunk with a blank expression as other kids in their class ran around with a soccer ball or played tag. 

“Lance, I don’t think that’s a good idea-” Hunk said nervously, seeing the swingset rock a little. “I don’t know if this’ll hold-” 

“Come on, Hunk! Buddy!” Lance begged, “It’s gonna be awesome!” He braced himself, ready for Hunk to give him a hard push. With one last noise of disagreement, Hunk gave a huge push to send Lance over the swingset. 

The swingset held. 

Lance didn’t. 

He was sent skidding across the black-top rubber that protects kids from the asphalt, and it was silent for a few moments. Then he wailed. Sitting up, the entirety of his right arm was shredded and bloody, the same with his right cheek. Blood was collecting and dripping from the scratches, staining Lance’s light grey t-shirt. Hunk started forwards.

“Lance!” Someone called, which made Hunk pause. That was not who he expected to get to his fallen friend first. 

Keith was leaning over his friend, concern pouring off of him in waves. “Lance, it’s okay!” He helped to support the sobbing boy. “Don’t cry!” Keith begged softly, looking desperately at him. “Come on! You lived through the ocean, don’t cry now!” He grabbed Lance’s good arm. “I’ll take you to the nurse!” 

Hunk, despite being Lance’s best friend, had no idea that Keith tolerated the loud, bubbly boy. Awkwardly, he trailed behind the pair as Keith led Lance through the school to the nurse. By the time Lance calmed down, he was all patched up and waiting for Shiro to come pick him up early. 

“I feel like I was sucked through a black hole.” Lance groaned, placing his hand on his forehead in dramatics. “Thanks for helping me, Hunk.” He looked over at Hunk and Keith.

“Actually,” Hunk looked confused, glancing between his best friend and Keith. “Keith-”

“I just called the nurse.” Keith said, his face back to the blank, emotionless expression that usually dressed his pale skin. “Didn’t want to listen to your crying.” While his words were sharp, there wasn’t the bite in it that was usually used against other 6th grade classmates and teachers. If Hunk didn’t know Keith, he would think he was being _kind_.

Lance nodded, leaning back and placing a hand on his chest, going to grab the charm on his necklace and fiddle with it as a nervous habit. But it wasn’t there. With rapidly quickening breathes, Lance pat around his chest to see if it simply was out of place. 

“Calm down.” Keith rolled his eyes. “I just took it to wash it off, there was blood on it.” He dangled the necklace in front of Lance. “I got some rust off of it too.” He noted. “When was the last time you washed that thing?” He snorted, tossing it into Lance’s waiting hands.

“Um… never?” Lance replied, clipping his necklace around his neck and holding the cool metal to reassure himself. An eye roll from Keith was the last thing that was exchanged between the three of them before Shiro walked into the office. They heard his voice from the nurses, and Lance stood up to get ready to go.

“I’m here for Lance Smythe and Keith Kogane… Thanks.” Shiro relaxed, pulling out his phone to send a few texts. One of the texts was to Allura, who was currently in England with Coran. They were visiting family, and would have taken Lance, but the young boy had requested to stay home with Shiro and Keith. ‘Who else would watch Keith?’ he pointed out, the Smythe family knowing Shiro was much too busy studying online courses for the Garrison to focus on both boys.

Lance and a confused Keith walked out with Hunk, frowning at Shiro. “I’m sorry for making you drive all the way here-” The lankiest of the three kids apologized, his eyes downcast. 

“It’s alright, buddy.” He ruffled Lance’s hair with his prosthetic arm. “I was done for the day anyways…” He looked like he wanted to say something else, but decided against it. “Come on, you two. Nice to see you again, Hunk.” He smiled at the darker-skinned child standing next to Lance.

Shiro led Keith and Lance to the car, and drove out. But instead of turning left out of the school, Shiro pulled the Jeep to the right.

“Where are we going?” Lance asked curiously, peering out the window.

“We’re going to go visit a friend of mine…” He took a breath. “Because I’m going to go study at the Garrison…” He tried to ease the idea onto the boys, hoping they would catch on.

Keith perked up, “Really? Congratulations!” He seemed excited for his brother, leaning forwards in his seat.

In a drastic contrast to normal, Lance was the quiet one. Something sounded all too familiar about this situation. Then he remembered Katie. Her brother, Matt, left her to go study at the Garrison, and how upset Katie was that he was gone.

As if on cue, Shiro spoke. “Mr. Holt and his son asked me to join them on their mission to Kerberos.” The Japanese man sounded excited. “It’s a big break for me!”

“You’re leaving!” Lance exclaimed, looking betrayed. “You’re going to leave us with your friend!”

“I’m not leaving!” Shiro said reassuringly, not having expected Lance to be the one to be upset about it. “It’s just until Allura and Coran return from England! Trust me.” He pulled into the driveway of a larger, modern but victorian looking house. It was white with grey trim and a few hanging potted plants. “Welcome to the Holt residence!” He gestured, parking the car. 

Lance stared at the house, dumbstruck. The doubt he had felt a few moments ago that was eating away at him vanished. He pushed himself out of the car and sprinted to the door in excitement. 

“Whoa, Lance!” Shiro hurried after him. “You can’t just run into a strangers house-” He grabbed Lance’s arm just as the young boy knocked on the door 4 times in a weird pattern that Shiro didn’t recognize. 

The door swung open to reveal a petite girl wearing a much too large sweatshirt that Shiro instantly recognized. 

“Pidge!” Lance embraced the smaller girl, who was grinning. She adjusted the large glasses on her face and hugged Lance back. “I’m gonna live here with you!” He bounced excitedly, hurrying into the house and removing his shoes. WIthout paying much attention to Shiro, Keith, or Mrs. Holt, they head upstairs to Katie's room. 

“I-” Shiro stared at Mrs. Holt in surprise, not knowing how Lance knew her youngest child. As far as he knew, Katie had been homeschooled her whole life. 

“Sorry about that!” Mrs. Holt opened the door a little further. “Katie has been waiting for Lance to get here all day!” She smiled. “The two of them love to hangout after school. Thank you so much for picking him up after they hang out, I know it’s a long drive. But it’s been so good for Katie, they get along so well and she’s always excited to go back out the next day.” 

After her short ramble, Shiro raised an eyebrow. “Lance and Katie have been hanging out?” He sounded confused. “I had no idea they even knew each other!” He laughed. “That explains the constant drives into town when Lance calls that he missed the bus.” 

Mrs. Holt blinked, “I thought you knew!” She grinned, “Ah, well. Where’s your little brother?” She peeked around Shiro to spot the quiet, shy looking boy that was glaring at the ground. “Hi, Keith!” She motioned for the two of them to come in. “I’m so glad that you two are going to stay with us for a while. It’s been so empty since Sam and Matt left.” Her words were directed to Keith. “But they visit every break-” Her eyes traveled down to the boy, who was clutching Shiro’s hand. 

“It’ll be okay.” Shiro reassured. “Mrs. Holt will show you your room, I’ll go grab you the house key so you can pack up. I’m heading to the airport in a few hours.” He crouched beside Keith. “Promise me you’ll keep an eye on Lance?” He teased softly, pulling Keith in and kissing his head. “Love you, bro.” 

That earned him a gentle punch on the shoulder. 

“Love you…” Keith whispered, giving his older brother one last hug before Lance came down to say goodbye. 

The two boys were left standing shoulder to shoulder as they watched Shiro wave and drive away. Both boys couldn’t help from feel depressed, and it took a few days for them to adjust to their new life with the Holts. 

X X X

**_KERBEROS MISSION DISAPPEARS PILOT ERROR_ **

__“Pidge.”_ _

**_The Galaxy Garrison has said the crash…_**

__“Lance...”_ _

**_...was presumably caused by pilot error._**

__“Keith-”_ _


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOof it's been a month and I am a slow writer
> 
> This chapter is a little shorter than I would have liked, bUT hEY it's fine
> 
> Sorry it takes forever for me to update :"C

Waves splashed, and Lance ran down a large expanse of beach. Laughing, he tumbled into the sand, wiggling his arms around and grabbing handfuls of warm, loose sand. It glinted off the setting sun just right, sending the entire beach into bright orange and red hues as if it was on fire. 

It was warm and familiar, a content smile on Lance’s face. 

But something felt wrong. 

Turning, Lance glanced back at the house he knew was his. It, alike the beach around him, looked like it was aflame. But the rancid, sharp smell of smoke began to sting. It wasn’t barbeque smoke, there was no way barbeque smoke smelled so strongly of burnt plaster and hair. Then the first plume broke out the window. 

His house was on fire. 

Screaming, Lance pushed himself up. Turning towards the house, he broke into a run. But the sand drug at his feet, clinging to his ankles and pulling him down. As the sand swallowed him, all he heard was screams, crackles of fire, and the crash of waves. The last thing he saw was the charred corpse of a woman he knew to be his mother walk out of the house and cry his name.

X X X

Lance shot up, his heart racing. Nightmares like this had persisted for the past two years, ever since Shiro disappeared on the Kerberos mission with Pidge’s father (his favorite teacher), and Matt. His hand immediately went to grip the silver chain around his neck, the cool metal felt like ice against his burning skin. 

Quietly, he got to his feet. The now fifteen-year-old snuck out into the hallway, taking a hold of the landline in the hallway. With shaking breaths, he dialed Allura’s cell phone number and hoped that it would be day time in England. He needed to hear her voice. 

\--

When Allura found out about Shiro’s disappearance, she had flown home with Coran right away. But because she had work in England, she could only stay and comfort the boys for a little over two months. Over that short time, Lance and Allura had grown even closer. She had helped him learn skin care, since he was beginning to break out from the constant stress and tears. She listened as Lance talked about all the cute girls at his school, and how the boys always looked great. She helped him shop for new clothes, since he wanted to ‘reinvent’ himself. 

She was his big sister, and the guilt tugging at his gut because he knew he had real sisters somewhere in the world faded to a dull nag over the years. 

\--

When Allura picked up the phone, she sounded very awake. “Hey, Lance. What’s up, it’s like 3 am there!” She sounded upbeat, but Lance knew she was worried. 

“I just couldn’t sleep…” Lance said softly. “And I… I wanted to ask you a question.”

“Oh? Shoot.” Lance could picture Allura leaning back in an armchair, filing her nails with the phone pressed between her cheek and shoulder. 

“Well… I graduated 8th grade last year, and I’m heading into high school…” He began slowly. “And I was thinking… well I thought it would be kinda cool if I enrolled at the Garrison-” 

There was radio silence, and Lance’s heart picked up it’s racing beat again.

“Lance…” Allura started quietly, then it sounded like she was leafing through some papers. “I know how important space is to you… But you know how competitive the space program is at the garrison, especially in the secondary grade level.” 

“I know! Allura, I’ve kept my grades up and I’ve studied really hard!” The teen begged, his voice kept low to keep the others from waking up. He was glad, though. Allura hadn’t brought up his main concern about him going to the Garrison, Shiro's disappearance. 

Their quiet conversation carried on for about half an hour more, ending with Allura agreeing to email the principal of the Garrison with her permissions, as she could not be there to help him apply. 

The soft cheers and thank yous of the tan boy did not go unheard by Keith, who had been listening in to their whole conversation the minute his friend rose from bed. 

Keith slept lightly, unable to get good sleep since his brother was declared dead. Katie, on the other hand, slept like a rock. Nothing woke her up except the beeping of the alarm clock Matt had programmed for her when he had still been there. 

It wasn’t until the next morning that Keith decided to confront Lance about the phone call. They were all in Bunker A La Holt, talking about their favorite animated movies. 

“What’s wrong with Zootopia?” Keith asked, his arms crossed in defense. 

“Keith… That movie is a bunch of humanized animals. It’s kinda creepy.” Katie snorted, pushing her hair behind her ears. It had grown much longer since the news broadcast that had halted everyone’s lives, so she mostly kept it pinned back with a thick, green, cloth headband. 

“But-” Keith bit his cheek, not able to think of a good rebuttal. He looked at Lance unconsciously, expecting a reaction from the extrovert. 

The usually loud boy was sitting, staring off into the distance and absently scribbling notes into a lined spiral notebook in front of him. 

“Hey, Starboy.” Katie had followed Keith’s gaze over to their quiet friend. “What’cha doin’?” She scooted over and peeked at Lance’s notes. “What are you writi-” Katie was cut off by Lance slamming his journal closed.

“Nothing. Just some school notes that I missed the other day, fell asleep in class.” He shrugged innocently, giving Katie a somber look.

“Ah, the life of a public schooled kid is a harrowing one.” Katie teased, leaning back into her own seat. “Home schooling does have its perks. Y’know, Mom would be more than willing to homeschool you too, if you both wanted.” Katie had offered this before, getting declined by both boys for the same reason each time:

“No thanks, Shiro would have wanted us to continue in public school.”

Lance smiled a little, but glanced down. “Sounds nice like it, but Lancey Lance thrives off the public school girls’ attention.” His voice was upbeat, but his face was tight, staring at the cover of his notebook. 

“Hey Pidge, do you think we could have some lemonade from the house? It’s getting pretty hot, even down here.” Keith said, fanning his face for effect. 

“Oh, yeah. I’ll go grab some.” She said, pushing out of the seat. “Don’t go anywhere!” Katie hollered, making her way up the stairs. Once she was gone, Keith turned to Lance.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, his face twisted with concern. “I heard you on the phone last night, what was that all about? The Garrison?” He gripped his hands tight together, seeing Lance’s face shift from emotionless to surprised to scared. 

“I-” The boy began, turning his face towards the floor. “I just wanted… I dunno…” He couldn’t look at Keith, feeling like he was abandoning his oldest friend. “I want to go to space.” He mumbled, “Working with the equipment and studying the stars and sky is cool, and the Garrison’s space program is the best in the country.” 

Keith listened to Lance ramble, his chest rising and falling with the slow beat of his heart. When Lance finished, Keith scooted over to him. “Lance…” He bit his cheek. “I’m not… really good at comforting, but I think you should go to the Garrison-” The darker-haired boy placed his hands in his jacket pockets. “If that’s where you want to go-”

“It is but I don’t want to lose everyone… _again_ ” Lance’s voice cracked. “I lost everything except this five years ago.” He gently tugged on the seashell charm around his neck. “Two years ago, we lost Shiro, Allura, and Coran in the span of a year… I know Allura and Coran are alive, but Europe is so far away, they might as well be with my real family.” Tears pricked the corners of the tan-skinned boy. “And- And I just don’t think I wanna lose you too.” There was a soft hiccup that made Lance stumble over his words. “The world is way too big.”

Keith inhaled, feeling very out of his element. He wasn’t used to dealing with tears, but seeing Lance so upset was hurting him. “I don’t think… I don’t think you’ll lose me.” The paler boy said slowly. “I was thinking about applying to the Garrison-” but before he could finish, Katie coughed softly from the stairs, a jug of lemonade in her hands. 

“The Garrison? Without me?” She smiled. “We can’t break up the trio!” Katie placed the lemonade on the table. “We’re the three Musketeers! No way in hell can you keep us apart.” Her voice was sure, and she resumed her previous seat at the table, earning smiles from Lance and Keith. “So when are applications due?”

X X X

Lance spent the summer with Katie and Keith, mostly being the third wheel as both of them went out on late night adventures into the woods around the lake to hunt for cryptids. He was fine on the lonely nights when they weren’t there, because he spent most of his time researching his past. Only Katie's mom knew about his late night research, and would often help him look for information while she wasn’t working or teaching Katie the latest trig equations or how to use a complex sentence correctly. 

While little progress was made on Lance’s end, Katie was beginning to excel far above the average scores for kids her age. At fifteen, she had already gotten a 1400 on the SAT and programmed a simulation on her handmade computer. She was extremely determine, and while applying for the Garrison, she and her mother came to the realization that her application may be viewed with bias because of Matt being a previous student and she would not be able to apply at all, because the Garrison was an all male. To prevent any bias, Katie applied under the alias Pidge Gunderson, claiming to be a sixteen year old boy so she would be in the same class as Lance and Keith, who were both going into freshman year.

Of course, she was accepted right away when they viewed her test scores and accomplishments. Keith got into the program thanks to his application essay, probably moving the readers to tears with his story of foster care and losing his brother. He kept it vague though, not wanting to be tied up in the same reason Katie had to apply as Pidge. Lance, like Keith, assumed his acceptance was based on his essay. The story of how he lost his family and memory was such a rare case, it had to be what got him in. Yet his grades, like Pidges, got them both into the special space program, where they would study to be pilots in space should they continue at the Garrison into their college years. 

It was on Lance’s sixteenth birthday, which they didn’t technically know so it was the day he was found, August 4th, that they received their classes for the Garrison. Pidge and Lance had class together, since they were in the special program. Keith had applied for a different department, wanting to deal with the engineering of the machines themselves, so he was in a different class. 

With a deep breath, Lance looked at the blue cake that sat before him on the table that was decorated with 16 blue and white flickering candles. They blew out, smoke snaking up from the burned wicks. His wish was simple; he wanted to be with his entire family. For some reason, the headache that plagued him when he was little, the one that presented itself when he tried to remember something from before that first August 4th, came back as a small push in the back of his brain. As Pidge cut the cake and Keith grabbed the plates, Lance took a hold of his necklace and gripped the charm tight. Slowly, the headache left and freed Lance to return to the festivities of his sixteenth birthday.

Gently, Lance allowed the necklace charm to rest on his chest again, pressing against the center of the large scar that graced his upper body. It was the center of the scar, which they learned was an electric burn that had been conducted through the charm and across his chest. However, the doctor that had told them this six years ago was unable to determine the origin of it. Lance thought it had made him unique when he was 10, but now he couldn’t help but wonder if he had gotten it before or after he had lost his family. 

School at the Garrison started the next week, giving the new secondary students a month to get used to the campus and their roommates before the real classes began. Lance had been there when Keith decided to grow out his hair, and when Pidge had cut hers. Lance had been there when the Holts got their dog Bae Bae, an emotional support dog for the whole family after the loss of the male Holts and Shiro. Lance had been there when Allura got a promotion in the London clothing company she worked at. Lance had been there for almost everything. His first girlfriend, his first job, his first failed test, his first breakup. When Lance applied for the Garrison, he was worried that he would be leaving Keith and Pidge, the ones he considered his family, and wouldn’t be able to see them. But here Lance was, standing in front of the dorm list in the Garrison hallway on his first day at his new school. 

“Hey, Pidge. Y’think I’ll know my roommates?” Lance asked, glancing down at the younger girl.

“Really, Lance, what are the odds that you would?” The sarcastic reply came from his glasses-wearing friend. “We’re hundreds of miles away from Texas, and everyone you know is there.” 

“You never know.” Lance stuck out his tongue, stepping up for his turn at the list. 

“Room 44-  
Lance Smythe  
Pidge Gunderson  
H…”

Lance turned, not registering the last name as he was too excited to be roomed with Pidge. “Pidge! Pidge!” He grinned. “We’re roommates!” 

“You have to be kidding.” Pidge pushed up her glasses, eyes wide with disbelief. “Oh for the love of God.” She grumbled. “Six years and I still can’t get my own space!” Pidge gently pushed Lance, walking over to Keith. “Who are you roomed with?”

Keith glanced at the list. “Some guys named Marco McClain and Raphe Johnson.”

“Two people?” Pidge asked, looking confused.

“Everyone has two roommates.” Keith deadpanned, nodding towards the list. “Didn’t you look?” He glanced pointedly at Lance, who caught Keith’s look and walked over to join them.

“Oh!” Lance said quickly, “I got so excited we were together, I didn’t see the third name.”

“I hope he’s not an asshole.” Pidge muttered, stepping up to the list. “Hunk Garrett?” She glanced at Lance, who was staring off in the distance at a group of kids.

“Hunk!” Lance screeched, heading off quickly towards the group. He was buzzing with excitement, and wrapped his arms around a large kid in the outskirts of the group. “Hunk! Why are you here!”

Hunk turned around, confused for a second until he smiled. “Lance! I’m here to intern for the kitchen, they have a great program with chemistry and food to help make prolonged provisions for the people going up in space!” 

“That’s awesome, buddy! I’m here to be one of those pilots that you’re cooking for!”

“No way! I don’t believe it!” Hunk said, his cheeks red from smiling so much. 

“Yes way! And would you believe that we’re roommates?” Lance exclaimed, pointing at Pidge. “With Pidge!”

“Pidge? Lance, this is so awesome! We’re going to have so much fun!” The three of them were ecstatic, and left off to their room to get situated, saying a quick ‘see ya later’ to Keith. 

Lance hung back for a second, glancing at Keith for a second. He leaned forwards, squeezing Keith a quick hug. “Thank you.” He said quietly. “I’ll come visit your room later… Room 62, right?” Lance was about to say something else, but Pidge called him to hurry up. “See you soon, Keith.” The taller boy waved and hurried after his friends. 

Keith was struck. He knew Lance was thanking him for everything that Keith had helped him with growing up, but he was not expecting a hug. He caught a small smirk on Pidge’s face before she turned away and said something to Hunk and Lance, the group turning a corner and disappearing from sight. His face burned, hoping that putting his trust in Pidge during their late night excursions to hunt for cryptids about his massive crush on Lance wouldn’t backfire now that they were roommates. Keith shuddered as his feet carried him towards his room, thinking of all the opportunities Pidge had to spill his secret to Lance now that they would be living together. With a mental slap, Keith reminded himself that they had been living together already for the past 3 years. Pidge would have told Lance by now if she was going to. 

With a sigh, Keith opened up his room door and looked inside. There was a tall, slim, tan boy with dark brown hair, his back to the door. “Lance?” Keith asked in shock, the boy standing in front of him turned. Not Lance, not Lance. Keith panicked, his face turning red. “I-I’m sorry. You just looked like someone I-” He glanced up at the boys face, and he looked surprisingly similar to Lance. Startled, Keith finished his sentence. “Know… Are you Marco or Raphe?” He asked, his face still red with embarrassment.

“I’m Marco.” The boy held out a hand, “You called me Lance?” He looked a little unsettled, his hand shaking a little. 

“Sorry- Just… someone I’ve known for a while.” Keith shook Marco’s hand, smiling a little. “That was embarrassing.” He admitted quietly, noticing the door open again. A shorter, slightly bigger ginger ran in, out of breath.

“My name is Raphe.” The kid panted, a hand on his chest as he caught his breath. “Marco, Keith?” He looked at each boy respectively, earning nods of approval from both. “Nice to meet you.” The kid nodded back. “We decided on beds yet?” He looked at the remaining two beds, as Keith hadn’t claimed one yet. Marco had taken the bed next to the window, with a view of the Arizona desert out the window. 

“I hope you don’t mind that I took the window bed.” Marco said, “we could draw straws if you guys wanted to.” 

Keith shook his head, not really caring where he slept.

“I mean, I’m fine taking the bed closest to the door.” Raphe said. “Because if someone breaks in, then I’d be the first to go. The sweet release of death has been a long awaited fantasy of mine for a while.” The ginger glanced between the other two, smiling when he got a snort of amusement out of Keith.

Marco looked slightly concerned, and a little uncomfortable, but he nodded. “That sounds fine with me. Keith, you good with the middle bed?” Marco asked, looking over at him. 

“That’s fine.” Keith dropped his backpack and suitcase on his bed, and sat down. “What do you two know about the school?” He asked, looking up. 

Marco sat down on his bed, and looked out the window. “It’s a school specializing in science, and specializes in the space program. I’m here for biological sciences though, which is why I got in. They didn’t have many applicants for it.” 

Raphe piped up, “I’m here for astrophysics, I wanna help get the pilots into space safely.”

Keith nodded, “That’s cool… One of my friends is in the piloting program.” 

“Really?” Raphe asked in disbelief, “that program is so selective! That’s awesome.” 

“Yeah… well he’s a pretty awesome guy.” Keith said, feeling a little proud. “He and I have been friends since we were 10.” Any chance to talk about Lance, Keith was willing to take. Having watched Lance go from a scared, lost child to the extroverted, hardworking student he is today always caused a bubble of pride in Keith’s chest. 

“Tell him congratulations.” Marco grinned, giving Keith a thumbs up. “What are you here for? Not piloting, I’m assuming.”

“Oh, I’m here for engineering and mechanical work on the space crafts.” Keith waved a hand. “Like Raphe, I want to make it safe for the pilots to fly.”

“That’s awesome, man.” Marco rubbed his hands together, “You’re both going to do amazing!” He leaned forwards a bit. “But you wanna know something really cool? My brother told me.” 

“Of course!” Raphe gasped, leaning forwards as well. 

“Anton said that Room 42 is disguised as another dorm, but it actually is a storage room for something top secret! He wouldn’t tell me what it was, said it was confidential.”

“No kiddin’!” The ginger replied in shock, “how do we know he isn’t bluffing?” 

“Anton is a teacher here! He’s been working here for two years, he’s only 23 years old! Got his teaching degree super fast, was a fast start student in high school because he went here.” Marco looked around. “One of you may have a class of his. Mr. McClain? I have him for third period”

“I’ve got him third too.” Keith spoke up, pulling out his wrinkled class schedule. “Biology… Does it run in the family?” He asked, looking at Marco with a blank face.

Marco laughed, it was a soft sound followed by a small snort. “No. Just Anton and I. My oldest brother works at a Church, my two older sisters made a fashion company together, and my twin older brother and sister are still in college. They’re studying history and animation, respectively.”

“You’re the baby of such a big family?” Raphe asked in disbelief. “Wow.”

Marco shook his head, “No, I’m the second youngest.” His face was grim. “I’ve got a younger brother.”

“Oh, what does he study?” Raphe asked, not noticing the growing look of sadness on Marco’s face.

“I… don’t know what he would have studied. I haven’t seen him since I was 11.” Marco choked out, gripping his bed sheets. “But he always loved the unexplored places on Earth. He wanted to discover something huge one day.”

“I’m sorry.” Raphe said quietly, realizing the situation. “What happen-” Before Raphe could get his question out, a bell rang and a voice came over a speaker. 

“Will all new secondary students please assemble in the auditorium for orientation? Please assemble in the auditorium for orientation, thank you.” The voice signed off, and the three boys hurried into the hallway and down towards the auditorium, previous conversation forgotten.

Keith almost slammed into Lance in the crowd of kids, and he quickly attached himself to the taller boys arm like he was a buoy in a storm. Keith did this when they were younger as well, not dealing well with crowds, like when they visited Allura in London and got lost amongst the tourists. 

Lance grinned down at Keith. “It’s so cool here! How are your roommates?” He scanned the sea of orange-and-white suited students, as if he knew what Keith’s roommates looked like and could spot them.

“They’re really cool… Marco’s older brother is a teacher here.” He said, “I’ve got him for third period, biology.”

Lance looked down at his schedule. “Mr. McClain?” He asked, ignoring the small twinge in his brain. “I’ve got him too!” He sounded relieved. “My schedule changed when I got here, something about classes being overfilled in a few places. I don’t know how a class of 12 is overfilled, but whatever.” Lance shrugged. “Now we have a class together! I was worried I wouldn’t end up with anyone I knew since Hunk and Pidges schedules remained the same.” 

“That’s cool…” Keith nodded, letting go of Lance once they found seats a few rows behind Hunk a Pidge, the tall Samoan boy having carried Pidge on his shoulders so they didn’t get separated in the flood of students. 

Lance’s hand came up to play with the silver charm on his necklace, but realized it was tucked inside his uniform because they weren’t supposed to wear jewelry. With a small sigh, Lance turned his attention to the larger, dark skinned man who had taken over the podium on the floor. 

X X X

After orientation and a quick tour of the campus, they visited each of their teachers in the order of their periods. Lance’s first two classes were fairly boring, but as he approached the third class, he could hear a friendly voice floating from inside the door. 

“Hello students, my name is Mr. McClain!” The slim teacher looked friendly and fairly young, Lance noticed. Mr. McClain’s hair was gelled up into a small swoop in the front of his hair that helped show his clear, tanned skin. Mr. McClain smiled, then said “Hola estudiantes, me llamo es Señor McClain.”

Lance leaned forwards in interest, and without realising in, had spoken up. “Hola Señor McClain, me llamo es Lance.” The Spanish tumbled out of Lance’s mouth, causing Señor McClain to look over at him. 

“Lance?” Señor McClain said, eyes clouding over. 

“Um… Yes?” Lance bit the inside of his cheek, spotting Keith from across the room. His Korean friend had a puzzled look on his face, one that made Lance want to smile despite the awkward circumstances. 

“Where are you from?” Señor McClain asked, grabbing his class roster to check who Lance was.

“Texas.” The teen replied, inching his way across to room to stand near Keith. 

“Texas.” Señor McClain paused, thinking. “Well, Mr… Smythe, you may take a seat there.” He pointed to a seat in the front. “You will be next to Marco.” Señor McClain began to read out the rest of the seating chart, and much to Lance’s relief, Keith was in the seat behind him. Lance turned to talk to Keith, missing the look that was passed between Marco and Señor McClain.

Once the day was over, they all gathered in the cafeteria for lunch. Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and Keith gathered at a table for 6, not sure if Keith’s roommates were going to join them. As it turns out, Marco had found them and sat across from Hunk. 

“Marco.” Lance smiled, “I’m Lance, we sit next to each other in biology?” 

Marco glanced up, but quickly looked back at his food. “Yeah, I’m Marco McClain.” He looked up at Lance again, as if studying his reaction.

“McClain, Señor McClain’s family?” Lance had no reaction other than another pinch in the back of his brain, but he didn’t let that show. 

“Mhm.” Marco nodded, shoving a mouthful of mashed potatoes in his mouth. “Wow, these are good.” He said in surprise, looking around at the others with wide eyes. 

“Really?” Pidge asked skeptical, adjusting her glasses before taking a hesitant bite. “Jesus, Hunk! You get to work with these guys? You’re going to become my new favorite person if you sneak some food back into our dorm at night.”

Hunk let out a deep laugh, and just began to eat, despite Lance’s small whine of protest. 

“I thought _I_ was your favorite!” Lance exclaimed, leaning into Pidge’s field of vision. “That’s just mean.”

Marco shook his head, “They’re good, but nothing compares to my Mamá’s cooking.” He leaned back. “She packed me some Cuban food to share with my new friends and Anton.”

“Really?” Lance smiled, “I’ve always wanted to try some Cuban foods! In Texas we just had a lot of barbeque and Italian.” The teen rubbed his stomach. “Although, Pidge’s mom did make a great fettuccine alfredo.” 

Pidge grinned, “bring your mom up here sometime, we’ll have a great mom cook-off.” 

“You’re on.” Marco matched Pidge’s grin, leaning forwards to accept the challenge. 

X X X

The months at the Garrison went smoothly, Keith turned 17 and Christmas passed, Pidge turned ‘17’ as well, but Keith, Hunk, and Lance helped her celebrate her 16th instead. It was nearing the end of the year, and Lance was studying for finals in Keith’s room, having trouble remembering the complex situations from biology. 

“Keith, help me.” Lance whined, pulling at his chocolate brown hair. “I don’t understand!” Thankful for the weekend, they were in casual clothes. Lance’s shell charm necklace bumped against his sternum when he moved. “Pleeeeaaaaaaassssse.” The teen begged, flopping onto his back on Keith’s bed.

“Lance, you know me telling you the answers only makes it harder for you to study.” Keith deadpanned, looking up at Lance with a flat expression.

“I know, but… I don’t understand!” Lance bit his cheek. “It doesn’t make sense!”

“You can do it.” Keith said cooly, glad his other two roommates weren’t here at the moment. Marco was studying with Raphe in the library, both of them working on their calculus homework.

Lance sat in silence for about half and hour longer, his face growing increasingly more red. The page flipped, and tore a little at the binding. Lance’s feet got caught in the covers of Keith’s bed, and he was beginning to feel uncomfortably hot and irritated. Every little noise made him want to snap. It was when Keith set his glass of water on his desk and a small squeak was emitted that Lance lost it. His hand, which had been fiddling with his necklace to try to calm himself, got caught in the chain of the necklace. When he tore his hand away to push himself up, the chain snapped and the necklace fell to the ground with a quiet _chink_.

“I can’t take it!” Lance seethed, glaring at the fallen necklace, then his textbook. “I don’t… I can’t!” He pushed himself up, face red with anger. “It doesn’t make sense!” Tears pricked his eyes, and he stormed out of Keith’s room without a second glance back. He just needed a break, so he decided to go for a run in the quickly cooling desert. 

“Lance!” Keith said, looking after his friend in surprise. He wanted to follow him, but Keith knew Lance just needed space to cool down. The Korean spotted Lance’s fallen necklace, glinting in the setting sun. With a soft sigh, Keith picked it up and placed it on his desk. Lance could come back for it later. 

Marco and Raphe entered the room a little while later, arguing over whether or not water was wet, making Keith smile. He and Lance used to argue about that. 

“But at what point is something a cyborg.” Keith called to his two roommates, looking over at them with a dry smile.

“Oh no you don’t.” Raphe gasped, a pout appearing on his face. He looked over to discuss it with Marco, but the Cuban was staring around the room. “Alright… well I’m going to go shower.” Raphe waved, grabbing his towel and heading out.

“Did Lance go back to his room?” He didn’t see Lance, and Raphe had just taken the bathroom. 

“Nah, he went to cool off. He couldn’t study for long periods of time, got too uptight.” Keith replied, turning back to his text book. 

“Ah…” Marco walked up to Keith, “What are you studying-” He paused, eyes catching sight of Lance’s necklace. 

“Biology.” Keith said, then looked over when he didn’t receive a reply. “What?”

“Where did you get this?” Marco reached out, picking up the necklace. He gently touched the charm, face twisted.

“Oh. It’s not mine, it’s Lance’s. He had it before he was adopted, he doesn’t know where he got it.” Keith turned back to his book.

“Lance was adopted?” Marco’s voice was barely a whisper, and he was just staring at the seashell charm.

“Mhm. My brother and his girlfriend found him on an island in Mexico. Lance didn’t remember anything except his name. The girlfriend’s uncle adopted him after we couldn’t find his family.” Keith saw no problem telling Marco the story, since Lance usually told people by this point in a friendship. But none of them had Marco’s reaction. 

“Lance…” Marco breathed softly. “My missing brother, his name was Lance.” 

Keith stopped, and turned to look at Marco. 

“The coast guard declared him dead the week after his 10th birthday…” Marco gently turned over the necklace, looking at the clasp on the side. “These were birthday gifts from our mother… We all got them when we turned ten.” Marco reached into his pocket, pulling out a key ring with a small clock charm on it. “The secret was that they were all lockets… In them was an engraving with our last name and birthday on the inside, and a picture of us with Mamá and Papá.” Marco’s eyes were beginning to water, and he gently fiddled with the seashell charm for a second. It popped open, revealing a perfectly kept picture of a younger Lance with a man and woman, all smiling warmly at the camera.

“Keith.” Marco said, staring at the Korean with wide, watery eyes. “Lance is my brother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the end, I may add an epilogue but I'm not sure yet
> 
> also i apologize bc i don't speak spanish at all, I take Japanese, so my friend did the little bits of spanish that are in this chapter  
> There will be more in the final chapter, so I'll get more help


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance finally gets his family back, and a little bit more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness chapter 6 has been quAKing i am not okay
> 
> Sorry this took so long! I was in AP testing and finals hell month, I'm done with it all though!
> 
> I rearranged the chapter a bit! I moved the family tree to the back and chapter 5 to the correct place (So this was published 6-16-18, the family tree was before this)

“Holy shit.”

“Holy shit…” Marco breathed, echoing Keith. “Keith, where did Lance go?” He asked, urgently wanting to reunite with his brother after seven years of being apart.

“I don’t know.” Keith said, still stuck in a form of shock. “He left a little before you walked in, didn’t say where he was going...”

“I need to go tell Anton!” Marco bounced, unable to contain his anxiety and excitement. “Holy shit holy shit holy shit.” He paced, gripping the charm tight. “I don’t know why I didn’t see it sooner! Lance… I don’t know why I didn’t connect the dots!”

Keith could barely remember to breathe, but he forced words out. “Lance looks a lot different than when I met him…”

Marco turned to Keith, grabbing his shoulders. “Of course! McClain's always hit a growth spurt! Hell, I shot up six inches when I turned 14.” The tall Cubans mind was racing too fast for Keith to keep up with the words that were tumbling out. 

“Marco, I don’t know how Lance will react.” Keith wanted to warn the boy before he ran up and spilled everything to Lance. “He’s… fragile about this topic.” He thought back to that night in Bunker A La Holt where Lance spilled his fear of losing everyone again.

“Okay, okay, okay.” Marco ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm himself down. “We need to get Anton, he’ll be in a teachers meeting… But you don’t think the teachers will mind if he steps out for a bit, right?”

Keith shrugged, but he figured that no matter what answer he gave, he would be dragged after the excitable boy to the teachers lounge. 

He was right, of course. Moments later, Marco was on a fast track to the teachers lounge with Keith in tow. The doors of the teachers lounge opened with a loud bang, causing all 40 of the faculty members to look up in surprise. Most of them glared, or shooed them away. But Anton caught Marco’s eyes, and abruptly stood up when Marco held up the necklace. 

Meanwhile, Keith stood outside the door as Marco got his brother and sent a quick text. 

Keith:  
Allura, you need to take the next flight home.  
_read 3:47pm_  


Allura:  
What’s wrong? Keith, I can’t just hop on a plane anytime I want.  
_read 3:47pm_

Keith:  
I can’t explain. Nothing bad, I promise. You’ll want to be here as soon as you can, Coran too. Please.  
_read 3:48pm_

Allura:  
I’ll be on the next flight. This had better be important, Keith.  
_read 3:48pm_

Keith:  
It is. Got to go, see you soon.  
_delivered 3:48pm_

“Please excuse me.” Anton said, turning to the rest of the faculty. “I’m afraid there is a family matter I must attend to right away.” He kept his tone calm and professional, but the second the door to the room shut behind them and they were alone in the hall, a loud ‘holy shit’ was released. “Where did you… what?” Anton took the necklace into his hands gently, as if it were made of dust. “Marco, this better not be a joke.” The older brother sent a warning glare to the younger one, only to catch a glimpse of Keith, who he just realized was there. “Oh, um.” Anton looked a little embarrassed, and straightened his button up.

“Please, sir, continue.” Keith waved a hand, but everyone could hear how shaken up he was in his voice. 

“Keith is the one who had the necklace. It’s Lance’s!” Marco said, taking the necklace back and clicking open the locket. “Lance Smythe in 3rd period!” He leaned forwards. “He’s Lance, our Lance!” 

“Oh my God.” Anton covered his mouth, trying not to cry. Thankful for the seven years of having to hold back tears, he was able to keep a fairly straight face. “Where is he? Holy sh-” a quick glance at Keith- “holy crap.” Anton corrected himself “He looks so different. No wonder we didn’t recognize him. He grew up…” 

“We don’t know. Lance and Keith were studying for the biology final when Lance went out for a break, and he hasn’t come back yet.” Marco looked over at Keith, then Anton. “Do you think we could make an announcement in case he’s on campus?”

“That’s a great idea, Marco.” Anton nodded, and beckoned both boys to follow him. “Let’s get to the office, quick.”

The three of them dashed down the hall, glad it was a weekend and most students had gone to visit family or gone into town. They reached the office, and Anton unlocked the door to the announcements room. 

“Lance Smythe, if you are on campus please report to the attendance office. Lance Smythe, please report to the attendance office, thank you.” Anton spoke into the microphone, voice shaky. 

And they waited for ten minutes, sitting in the attendance office with bated breath. However, their waiting was for nothing when no one showed up. Ten minutes was plenty of time for him to respond to the call, meaning he wasn’t on campus. 

“Maybe he went into town?” Marco asked, looking at Keith for his thoughts. 

With a shake of his head, Keith frowned. “We have no car on campus, and he had no money on him when he left. His backpack is on my bed, including his room key and wallet.” 

“Maybe he went to…” Marco wracked his brain, trying to think of an answer. 

“When I went here, I would go out for runs.” Anton said, glancing at the desert outside the window. “Maybe he just went out to cool down, I know studying can be super restricting.” 

“That sounds like him.” Keith admitted. “When we were younger, he would go out for walks to this cave we found together. He liked to look at the cave paintings, it helped with his anxiety to know that there were people there before him.”

“Cave paintings?” Marco looked at Anton, then back to Keith. “Do you know if Lance read over the welcome pamphlet?”

Keith snorted, “Of course he did. Lance was determined to know everything about this place when we were applying, he wanted to get in so bad.” Marco looked at Anton.

“The Palatki Ruins.” Anton and Marco said at the same time.

“The Pala- what now?” Keith looked at the two of them with a raised eyebrow. 

“The Palatki Ruins.” Anton explained. “They’re a mile or two away from here, and it was one of the featured sights on the welcome pamphlet.” 

“Cave paintings...” Keith looked out at the desert, now knowing that was where Lance went. 

“Cave paintings.” Marco confirmed, then looked at Anton. “Do you have a way for us to get there?”

Anton grinned, reaching into his pocket. He spun a key ring, a few keys and an apple locket charm clinked together with the motion. “Let’s roll, boys.”

With a small smile, Keith followed the brothers out of the office and into the dorm hallway. 

“Welcome to Room 42.” Anton said with a flourish, pushing the unused dorm door open, revealing a staircase down into a dimly lit, metal lined hallway. 

“No. Way.” Marco looked at it in disbelief. “You weren’t fucking kidding!” He looked at Anton, only to get a disapproving look in return. “What!?”

“You know Mamá wouldn’t approve of you saying that.” Anton chastised, despite the sly grin on his face. “But no, I wasn’t fucking kidding.” He ushered the two boys down the stairway, locking the door behind him. 

As they walked, they began to notice the increasingly sharp smell of cleaning supplies and plastic. Keith was the only one to openly react, pulling his shirt over his nose in a gesture that said more than words could. 

“Here we are!” Anton unlocked another door, peeking inside it. “No one is supposed to be in here, so we’ll have to be careful.”

“Why is that?” Keith asked, looking a little interested in the pitch black room. 

“Room 42 is a secret entrance to the underground labs and testing chambers where… well, where we keep the astronauts for training, as well as their… finds.” The Cuban teacher said vaguely, before reaching in for the light. “This room is supposedly cursed, so no one really comes in.” 

“Why is it curs-” Keith shut right up once the light came on, revealing a fairly small room with papers piled upon a small circular table. One wall was lined with posters of planets and satellites, while another was covered with a large map of the stars. It looked very familiar, but Keith shrugged it off and stepped inside. “It doesn’t seem that cursed to me.” He muttered, glancing at Anton. “Were you messing around?” The shortest member of the group began to walk around the room, wondering why the hell they were in here.

“Oh, it’s not haunted or something. People just think it’s bad luck, because this was used as a mission planning and control room for a failed mission.” A dark look shadowed over the eldests face. “I haven’t been in here since before the Kerberos mission…” His voice caught in his throat, and his words caught Keith’s attention. 

_Of course_ this room looked so familiar. This was where his adoptive brother and the Holts had spent all their time getting ready for their doomed mission to Kerberos. The walls were decorated almost exactly like the Bunker A La Holt back in Texas, where Pidge and her brother used to hang out. A warm, homey feeling spread through him until a spike of jagged horror went through him. This was Shiro’s last location before he became lost, blamed for the missions failure. A small gasp was pushed out of his lungs, and he grabbed the edge of the desk.

“Whoa, Keith? Keith, the curse thing isn’t actually real, are you okay?” Mr. McClain made his way over to the seemingly distraught boy. 

“I’m fine.” He whispered, looking over the desk absently. “This was just… My brother was here, Shiro. Shiro was here.” He ghosted his hand over the desk, feeling the wood grain and reminiscing about his brother.

“Shiro.... Takashi Shirogane? Pilot for the Kerberos mission? Marco jumped into the conversation, a little worried for his roommate. “He’s your brother?”

“Mhm…” Was all the two Cubans got in response. 

“Holy shi-” Marco began, only to be cut off with a cough.

“I’m so sorry, Keith.” Anton said, reaching over and grabbing the boys shoulders. “No one should have to go through that, especially not someone as young as you.”

“It’s worse for Pidge.” Keith mumbled, not wanting all this pity. “The youngest Holt sibling.” He said, clearing up any confusion for the others. “Pidge Gunderson, Katie Holt.” He decided spilling the secret to Lance’s older brother -wow that was weird to think- wasn’t the worst thing he could do, especially since that very man had just shown Keith himself such a huge Garrison secret. 

Mr. McClains mouth made an ‘o’ shape, and he nodded in understanding. “Well, if you two ever need anything, just know the faculty here at the Garrison is willing to listen anytime.” His words were very automatic, as if he had to recite them every day. But with a glance at the teacher, Keith saw a smile upon the teachers face. “Really, Keith, don’t hesitate to come talk to me. Katie is welcome to as well.”

“Thank you.” Keith returned the offer with one of his own small, awkward grins. 

He turned, and began to sift through the drawers. “Now if I know my mentor, then they shouuuuuuld be riiiiiiight… here!” Anton cheered softy in triumph, pulling a key-ring with a futuristic looking key fob on it. 

“Jesus, Anton!” Marco looked at him with wide eyes. “What is that to?”

“Our transportation!” Anton tossed a smirk at his younger brother. 

“Mentor…?” Keith mumbled quietly, but his question was not heard. 

\----

It was only minutes later than Anton had snuck the trio into a large room, rows upon rows of vehicles parked throughout. “It’s down here!” Anton called, waving for the boys to follow him as he head towards the other end of the space. It wasn’t until Keith was past all the other cars and bikes that he saw what Anton was heading to. It was a bulky, awkwardly shaped _thing_ underneath an old, gray tarp.

“The hell is this?” Marco scrunched up his nose in distaste, something that Keith recognized as a common Lance habit. 

“It’s Matthew Holt’s bike!” Anton said, gathering the tarp off the bike. It was a greenish gray bike, much like the others. But instead of wheels, it had wide wings off the side of it that held propellers horizontal to the ground. It was a hover-bike. “He built this with Takashi and Samuel Holt.” The teacher pushed himself onto the seat, gesturing for the two others to sit behind him. 

Marco and Keith climbed on with enthusiasm; one excited about meeting his long-lost brother, the other excited to ride on such a cool bike. 

“I wish I had my gloves.” Keith mumbled wistfully to himself, staring off in the distance.

“Hold on tight, Green Day.” Marco joked, his own arms wrapping tight around his brother’s torso. Keith hesitated for a moment.

“This is gay.” Slipped out of Keith’s mouth before he could stop it, earning a loud laugh from Marco and Anton as the oldest turned the ignition and started to move. With a red face, Keith turned his head into his shoulder and held tight to his roommate. The three of them took off down the path between the rows of vehicles, a hatch at the end of the room opened up, giving enough space for a full sized battlecruiser to make its way through. 

“This is in the middle of the desert!” Marco gasped in surprise as they were spit out in the middle of nowhere, the Garrison just barely in sight behind them. “Wow!”

Keith took a moment to appreciate the surroundings. There were sparse shrubs and trees, with the occasional cracked clay in the earth. Red sand blew into small dunes, and all kinds of cacti stuck up from the ground. Keith loved this kind of open, warm environment. Texas had engrained the love of deserts into his mind, and he couldn’t imagine living without one nearby.  
The hot Arizona air whipped his hair back, probably horribly tangling it. Keith didn’t care, this was the most exhilarating thing he had done all year, most likely due to the fact that he wasn’t training to be an aerospace pilot; he didn’t get to do flight simulators like Lance. 

As the three of them raced through the rapidly darkening desert, a large rock formation loomed up in the distance. Anton slowed the bike when they were close to the ruins, the motor softly sputtering out. 

“Lance?” Marco called, hopping off the bike in haste. 

“Marco, hold on. Let Keith go get him.” Anton gently grabbed his brothers arm. “It would be weird for us to suddenly go search for him. We don’t want to freak him out.” 

“Are you sure?” Keith interrupted, looking at his teacher with a raised eyebrow. “He’s your brother…”

“He’s your best friend.” Anton pointed out, the same sly, knowing grin on his face. “We’ve waited seven years, we can wait a few more minutes.”

“Alright…” Keith said, still looking a little unsure. 

“Oh, and Keith?” Marco said, stepping towards his roommate. “Be careful. It’s not dark enough for the rattlesnakes to go into hiding yet.” 

“Thanks.” The shorter male grimaced, turning towards the ruins. Keith walked quietly, peering around for any signs of snakes in the fire-orange sunset. With deep breaths, Keith listened for any signs of another person in the rock formation. “Lance?” He called, hands cupped around his mouth. “Lance, are you here?”

A small, muffled sound came from above him, and a rock clattered to the ground nearby. “Keith?” A voice said, sounding a million miles away. Keith caught his breath, staring up. There was a person leaning over a ledge a few hundred feet above him, their silhouette stark against the burning orange sun. 

“Lance?” Keith exhaled, freezing in the moment. 

“Hold on, Keith!” The figure called, disappearing back behind the ledge. Rapid footsteps sent a few pebbles cascading down towards Keith, who remained motionless. A few moments later the figure skidded down the slope beside him, calling his name. 

“Lance?” Keith whispered, staring at his best friend. The golden hour in Arizona graced Lance’s features and cast him like a God. The teens cheeks seemed to glow in the warm light, and his blue eyes looked like they were shining. 

“Why are you here?” Lance asked, gently leading Keith into a shaded area so the Korean didn’t have to squint. 

“Lance… I-” Keith was unable to spit out the words, knowing that once Lance found out he had his family, everything would change. Yes, it was Lance that cried when they found out Shiro was leaving. And yes, it was Lance who went to Keith, distraught over the thought of leaving him behind. But now, it was Keith who repulsed by the idea of change. That his best friend, his crush, was going to be able to move on. Keith didn’t have Shiro, he didn’t have Allura, and he wouldn’t have Lance. Keith was so lost in his own thoughts, he failed to notice the way Lance’s hands gripped onto Keith’s shoulders. The soft tickle of Lance’s hair as the Cuban leaned in… How warm it suddenly was...

“Lance!” Keith jumped in surprise, his late reaction obviously amusing the other.

“Quiznak, Keith!” Lance couldn’t help but laugh. “And here I was, thinking we were having a moment.” His obnoxious laugh was contagious, and soon Keith, too, was doubled over in hysterics. 

Soon enough, the laughing died down, and Keith looked away shyly. “Hey, man…” Lance said quietly, looking over at him. “I’m sorry, I just thought- maybe I read the situation wrong?” 

“No, no.” Keith grabbed his forearms, hugging himself. “I just…” He heard the rev of a motor bike in the distance, and took a deep breath. “We need to talk about it when we get back, okay? But there’s something-”

Lance’s eyes widened and he looked back the way he had came. “Got it.” He interrupted Keith, and began to scuffle his feet. “I have something really cool to show you before we leave, come on!” And with that, the teen took off up the rocks. 

“Wait!” Keith yelped, hurrying after his friend. He spotted Lance halfway into an cave near the far side of the rocks, and followed him in. “This is…” It seemed familiar, paintings lining the walls. 

“It’s like home.” Lance said, walking over to the wall. “Look at them. They’re exactly like the paintings from Texas, but they’re blue.” 

“This is… amazing.” Keith gently touched one of the paintings. “They’re just like the ones deeper in the cave back home. Do you think they were made by the same people?”

“I don’t know…” Lance copied Keith, reaching out and touching a painting. He followed the wall, his fingers tracing over pictures of people, stars, and rivers. But the second his fingers traced over one of the paintings of a cat further back in the cave, the ground began to rumble and a loud roar filled the air.

“Earthquake!” Keith shrieked, grabbings Lance’s arm. 

“Let’s go!” Lance yelled, covering his head with his free arm as the two of them dashed out of the cave and down the rocks, slipping on loose pebbles and tripping over each other. They failed to notice the soft blue glow coming from the cave in their panic as they evacuated.

X x x

At the bottom of the hill, but boys were out of breath. 

“Jesus!” Marco walked up to the two of them. “Were you chased by a bear? In Arizona? What’s wrong?”

“Earthquake.” Lance threw his arm backwards, eyes closed as he wheezed. 

“There wasn’t an earthquake…” Anton mumbled and frowned, looking up at the two boys. But his concern quickly faded at the sight of Lance. 

“Lance.” Keith gulped air, “Lance, there was something I had to tell you!” 

“I’m so glad you’re safe.” Marco wrapped his arms around Lance, quickly joined by Anton. 

“Dios, cómo te he extrañado.” Anton mumbled into Lance’s hair. 

Lance shot Keith a confused look, then looked at Anton. “¡Pero no estuve fuera de allí... por más de una hora!” Anton pulled away, and took out the seashell locket, holding it out. “Oh, my necklace.” Lance sighed, taking it from Anton. “I must have left it in the dorm.” He looked apologetically at Marco and Keith. “Sorry for leaving all my stuff in your room, I’m pretty disgustingly unorganized. Makes me hard to live with.” Lance laughed nervously.

“There is a quote.” Marco smiled, “Brandy Norwood said, ‘nothing can stop me from loving my brother.’”

“What?” Lance stared at Marco, then his necklace, then Keith. 

Keith reached out, took the necklace from Lance, and gently opened it to reveal the engraving and photo. “They recognized it.” His voice was quiet as he watched Lance’s face for a reaction. 

At first, Lance puffed out his cheeks and drew together his eyebrows, looking confused. But it quickly morphed to a slack expression, then his eyes filled with tears. “¡Dios mío! Oh my God.” The Cuban threw his arms around Marco and began to cry, grasping his necklace by the chain. “I don’t remember anything from before I was ten.” Lance hiccuped, Marco hugging Lance back just as tight.

“You fell overboard.” Anton began quietly after the sobs died down, smiling at the two of them. “It was your birthday, July 28th. All the brothers were out on the boat, but it was too stormy for you to hold on. You went under, we didn’t know until we got back to the beach. We looked for you, but the coast guard declared you… dead. Lance, we didn’t know. We didn’t know…” Anton was gripping the fabric of his pants, his eyes watering. 

“It’s okay-” Lance reassured Anton, his cheeks blotchy and red. “I woke up on a beach in Mexico. Shiro and his girlfriend Allura found me, they took me home.” He hiccuped softly. “Allura’s uncle adopted me, they took good care of me. It wasn’t your fault.” There was quiet for a moment, then Lance looked at Anton shyly. “Did you say I had more brothers?”

“Two more.” Anton laughed airily, “Miguel and Leo.” He reached out, his arms wrapping around Lance. “And three sisters. Anita, Eva, and Lana.” 

“That’s… such a big family.” Lance breathed, his arms tight around his brother. 

Keith backed away, staring at the family in front of him. Something in him hurt, seeing Lance with his real family. Sure, he was immensely happy for his best friend. But now, Lance had found his real family. The Korean turned and began to walk towards the bike, prepared to simply start walking home. If Lance could run here, Keith could run back. 

It was only about five minutes of Keith’s feet pounding steadily on the ground before he heard a motor behind him. He saw the three brothers on the bike, Lance in the middle. 

“Hey, mullet!” Lance called, grinning at his friend. “Where do you think you’re going?” The McClains picked up Keith, setting him precariously on the back of the bike. 

“This seems dangerous!” Lance said over the wind. “The bike feels too heavy.”

“We could throw off some unessential weight.” Keith yelled sarcastically, his arms wrapped around Marco’s torso to prevent from sliding off the tail end. 

“Very funny.” Lance snorted, and just focused on making sure the bike didn’t drag down. 

After another five minutes, the four of them pulled into the hangar and the large door shut behind them. They stepped off the bike, Keith following behind the brothers as they walked towards the exit. Quietly, Keith managed to slip into the ‘cursed’ office. He flipped on the light switch and peered around, taking in the last place his brother likely had been before disappearing. His shoulders trembled from held back tears, and he quickly shut the door and hurried to catch up to the McClains. 

“If Lance can find his brothers, I can find mine.” Keith said to himself, gripping his forearms. 

xxx

Lance had been buzzing with the excitement for the past few hours, and he was sitting on the floor of Keith and his roommates dorm now. Raphe was excitedly talking with Marco and Lance about how they had found each other, the two brothers interrupting each other to tell their sides of the story. Anton had left a few hours ago, as it was around one in the morning. The teacher had to teach in the morning and work out the lesson plan. However, they had worked out a plan for when mid-break came in the following week. Allura and Coran would be arriving the next day from England, and Lance would be the one to break the news. After that, Pidge, Keith, Lance, Allura, and Coran would head up to California with Anton and Marco to visit the McClains. The brothers had yet to figure out the way to tell their family about Lance’s return, but there was a still a week left to decide.

“Hey Keith?” Lance asked, peering over at his friend. “Do you think you could come with me to my room to get Hunk and Pidge? I wanna grab some pictures and then bring the both of them over here.”

Keith glanced at Lance. “Oh, yeah. Let me just slip on some shoes.” He stood, searching for his sneakers. By the time he got them on, Lance was already standing in the open door. They left the room, Lance calling a quick bye to Marco and Raphe. “So…” Keith began, glancing up at the Cuban.

“So.” Lance looked down at Keith, a blank look on his face. 

“Listen, Lance. I’m really happy for you.” Keith had turned his gaze to the ground, not wanting to risk the Cuban seeing how watery his eyes were. “I know I hated you when you first showed up with Shiro and Allura, but after the years passed… you’re my best friend. It sounds selfish, but I don’t…” Keith’s voice caught in his throat. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t lose me.” Lance gave Keith a gentle smile, “You’ve been with me since the beginning.”

“But you have your family now! There’s no more going to the Holt’s on holidays, no more wishing Allura and Coran would be able to make it back from Europe for Christmas, you… you can take family photos and move to California, be with your mom.” Keith stopped walking, glad his long, dark bangs covered his face because tears were threatening to spill. “There’s nothing keeping you here now, because Allura and Coran are in England, Pidge has their mom, and your real family is in California!”

“Keith, you’re my family.” Lance grabbed one of Keith’s trembling hands. “Ever since I brought you that tuna sandwich when we were ten, I knew you would be my best friend. And Allura and Coran, they’re my family too. I don’t... I don’t remember my family from before, I’ve only started getting hazy memories of it. I am Lance Smythe, and the only reason I could see myself even thinking about taking another name is if we get married.” He winked at the shorter male, getting a choked laugh in response. 

“You’re stupid.” Keith smiled a little, squeezing Lance’s hand. 

“Yeah, I really am.” Lance smiled back, “Now let’s go grab those two genius friends of ours.” He led Keith off towards his dorm, hand still tight around the others. 

After walking for a few moments, Keith looked off in a side hallway.

“Lance? Do you think we could make a quick detour?”

“Oh, where to?” Lance inquired, but turned to follow Keith as he walked off. The lack of response from the other boy left Lance to peer around the hallways in confusion. The posters on the walls began to change from the student-orientated newsletters to star charts and planet alignments. His eyes widened as Keith led him into a dark room that stemmed from a narrow corridor. “What is this?”

“The observatory.” Keith flipped a light switch, causing a dim fluorescent light bulb to sputter to life. Lance looked around in awe. He had never been able to make it to the observatory, he had always been too busy in the flight simulators. So of course he had looked at the stars, but he was studying to be the pilot, not an astronomer. Just knowing about how big the world was just wasn’t enough for him, he wanted to be able to explore it. But there was something about the way that Keith led him to the telescope to show him what the stars above looked like that made him wish he was grounded. 

Keith peeked into the telescope, adjusting a few things before stepping back and looking at Lance expectantly. 

“What’s up?” Lance bent a little and looked into the small lens of the telescope. There were so many stars, a dazzling array of lights that made Lance gasp softly. He admired them for a few more moments, then looked over at a shyly smiling Keith. “It’s beautiful, Keith. Do you come to the observatory often?”

Keith nodded, stepping back to a panel where he pressed a few buttons. The light bulb turned off and a whirring sound caused Lance to look up. A shiny panel was spreading across the domed ceiling of the observatory, then came to life with a picture of what Lance had just seen through the telescope. “We can project the image onto the ceiling.” Keith explained as he spread out a blanket and sat down. “I wanted to show you, but I didn’t know when.” He pat the ground beside him.

Sitting down beside Keith, Lance held his breath. He listened to Keith explain the stars that they were seeing before realising something. “Wait, aren’t you studying the mechanics, not the stars? I thought you worked on the spacecrafts.”

“I… I wanted to learn about the stars, they always made you so excited to talk about, I thought we could talk about them together.” Though the room was dark, Lance could see the lights reflect in Keith’s eyes. 

“If I had a star for every time I was excited to just be with you, I could fill this universe and the next.” His breathing slowed, not moving his gaze from Keith’s. He thought he could stare into his eyes forever, the deep gray eyes seeming purple in the dim lighting. With a soft sigh, Lance unconsciously moved forwards. Before he could realize what he was doing, Keith met him in the middle. Lance moved a hand to Keith’s cheek and closed his eyes. 

Keith was the first to pull away, his face warm under Lance’s touch. “We should go grab Hunk and Pidge. Your brother is still waiting.” He gently nudged Lance, eyes sparkling in the dim light. 

“Mhm…” Lance breathed, his cheeks growing red. 

The shorter of the two males grinned, “Starstruck?” He teased, nudging Lance gently. “Come on, sharpshooter.” Keith laughed a bit at the nickname, remembering when Lance refused to make his name anything else when all of them played laser-tag together. The Cuban always did have a knack for aim, something Keith envied if he was honest. 

“What, we back to name calling, mullet?” Lance gently ruffled Keith’s hair, and the pair made their way out of the observatory while making small talk with an occasional argument, the past few minutes forgotten other than the way their hands bumped together as they walked. 

Xxx

“Holy shit!” Pidge squealed, laughing herself into Lance’s arms. “I’m so happy for you!” The small teen placed a kiss on Lance’s cheek. “I knew you could find them!”

Lance set Pidge down, a large smile making his cheeks ache. “Yeah, I just found out a little while ago. We talked for a bit, then I decided to come tell you two!” He looked over at Hunk, the smile on his own face mirrored on his friend. 

“What are you going to do now?” Hunk asked, giving Lance a bear hug.

“Um… I’m not sure. Keith asked Allura and Coran to come back from England, so they should be here tomorrow. They don’t know yet. And then I think we’re going to go to California, where my family is.” Lance smiled at Pidge. “And it’s only right that my third musketeer comes with us!”

Pidge grinned up at Lance, the Cuban having filled the brother figure that she lost all those years ago when Matt went to the Garrison. Her heart was full of pride for him, and excitement that he was finally with his biological family. “When do we leave?”

“Next week.” Lance bounced. “You, me, Keith, Allura, Coran, and my brothers!” The word felt foreign on his tongue. “Sorry Hunk.” He glanced at his friend apologetically. “I would invite you if it wasn’t a family thing.” Guilt at leaving him behind panged in the Cubans stomach, but his large friend just waved a hand. 

“I’m happy for you! I’ll be just fine, we have a catering event next week that’ll keep me busy!” Hunk nodded at Lance, and yawned. “I’m really excited for you buddy, but I’m exhausted. I had a culinary final and my mechanics final before break starts. You should get studying too.”

“Oh!” Lance rubbed his head sheepishly. “I forgot, honestly. I’m just going to run down and say goodnight to Marco and Raphe, then I’ll head back up here and crash. See you two in the morning!” Lance waved, watching his two friends make their way back to bed. He had woken them up after all. 

“Goodnight” Lance whispered once he and Keith had made it back to his room.

“Goodnight.” Keith gave Lance a small smile, quickly giving him a small hug. “I’m happy for you…” He ended it with a yawn and a small wave, the two parting ways to their own beds. 

X X X

Allura stepped into the Garrison campus, Coran by her side. She vaguely remembered the way to the office from when she had visited with Shiro many years ago, but the untimely death of Keith’s parents had left him unable to go to school until Keith was in middle school so much later. 

With a soft sigh, the two made their way to the office, wondering what made Keith call them over so urgently, the flight was more expensive than Allura would like to admit for such a short notice flight. 

“We’re here for Keith Kogane and Lance Smythe.” Allura smiled politely at the office attendant, a young man with large square glasses on his nose.

“Y-yes miss!” The young man looked surprised to see such a young woman asking for two high schoolers as if she was their parent. “Room 62 and room 44, respectively. Do you want me to page them?”

“That would be very kind, thank you.” Allura nodded, then turned on heel and walked out of the office, Coran right behind her. The commanding presence of the young woman caused the kids in the halls to spread like she was wildfire, pressing into each other to make way for her. Once Allura arrived outside Keith’s room, she gave a sharp knock. “Keith?” She called, her voice a little flat and unamused from the long redeye flight. 

The door flung open to reveal a tall, muscular teenager. Allura couldn’t put a pin on where she recognized the lanky teen, his smile the only thing that made her a little suspicious of where she did. 

“You must be Allura. Keith is actually in Lance’s room right now, two hallways down. I’ll walk you over!” The teens voice seemed a bit robotic and careful, but Allura chalked it up to finals stress.

“Thank you.” Allura managed a small smile, and the three of them walked off towards Lance’s room.

“Here we are!” The teen gestured. “I’m Marco, by the way.” He held a hand out, grinning at Allura. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Lance and Keith!” 

“What?” Allura paused when the door opened, revealing a slightly younger version of the teenager standing beside her. “Lance?” She looked between the two of them, her eyes wide. 

“Allura, meet Marco McClain.” Lance began.

“Allura, meet Lance McClain.” Marco stepped closer to his brother, the two wrapping their arms around each others shoulders. 

“Lance!” Allura burst into tears, wrapping her arms around the two boys. “I’m so happy for you!” 

Coran clapped Lance on the back gently. “My boy.” He hugged him when Allura pulled away, his eyes watering. 

“I found them…” Lance buried his face in Coran’s shoulder. The man had been his father for seven years, his entire concious life. “Thank you so much, for everything, Coran.” The two parted, giving each other a watery smile. 

“It was my pleasure.” Coran wiped his eyes, stepping back to stand with Allura. 

“I want to hear everything.” Allura demanded as she and Coran followed Lance and Marco into the dorm. She sat on Lance’s bed, giving Keith a small hug and Hunk and Pidge a smile to say hello. She gazed around the room as Lance got everything situated and put away, taking in every small detail- including the way Keith’s hand lingered near Lance’s as they talked quietly by Lance’s desk. 

“So...” Allura said pointedly, giving Lance an amused look when he and Keith sat next to each other to talk through everything that happened with Allura. 

“Allura!” Keith blushed, shuffling his feet. 

Lance just smiled, slipping his hand into Keith’s and taking a deep breath.

“Let me start from the beginning…”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So S.6. is out, S.7 is coming out soon, and I am not readyYYYY
> 
> Also I decided to make one last chapter wrapping up the story and including the epilogue so yIKES that'll be chapter 8 and then it is complete

Lance kept his and Keith’s finger intertwined, smiling as Marco took a seat on his other side. The two brothers launched into the story, beginning with Marco.

“Lance was born July 28th, he was the loudest baby Mamá swore she ever heard, and she had Miguel.” Marco paused to laugh to himself. “But Lance, like the rest of us, were homeschooled.”

“The rest of us?” Coran interjected, looking at Marco with a raised eyebrow. 

“All of us siblings! Miguel, Anita, Eva, Anton, Leo, Lana, and me. We all grew up homeschooled until high school.” Marco kicked his legs. “I decided to come here for high school, the rest of them went to the local school down in San Diego. We were all each other's friend, all the siblings were super close. We were heartbroken when we lost Lance, especially me. We were the only two left in homeschool together.”

“What do they look like?” Lance asked quietly, looking at Marco. “I… don’t remember them. I don’t remember anyone.”

Marco just gave Lance a sad smile, and pulled out his phone. “Here’s a picture of the family from last year's family portraits. We always take them during summer break when it’s the sunniest out.”

“Who is who?” Lance asked, leaning closer to the phone. 

 

“From the back row left, it’s Miguel, Anita, Anton, me, Eva, and in the middle it’s Mamá and Papá, and on the bottom it’s Leo and Lana.”

“Are they twins?” Lance asked, the two on the bottom looking eerily similar.

“Leo and Lana? Yeah. They’re fraternal, but they look almost exactly the same! Weird, huh?” Marco grinned, letting Lance hold his phone and look at the picture as he continued with his story.

“Lance was always getting in trouble, he had too much energy pent up from spending most of the day inside and doing school work. Mamá said as a baby Lance would sneak out and she would find him on the beach, playing with starfish from the tide pools. When he grew up we would go out tide pool fishing together. We found some pretty amazing things.” Marco glanced at Lance. “It’s all displayed in his room back home, we never took his room down. I used to share with him, but Mamá and Papá moved me into Leo’s room when he got too old to share with Lana.”

“Do… Do you think they’ll like me?” Lance looked nervous. “It’s been almost eight years.”

“Lance, they’re going to cry.” Marco assured him. “We all love you, and we always have.” The small nod of affirmation he got in reply was enough to spur him to continue the story.

“When Lance turned ten, Mamá and Papá gave him this locket.” Marco pointed at the locket that was back around Lance’s neck. “Everyone got one when they turned ten, and after the birthday party ended, they would show us that it was a locket. It seems lame but… it was like a fun little family secret that you learned when you turned ten, it was important to us. Lance never found out that it was a locket, we went out on the boat before he could. Mamá didn’t want us to go, but Miguel and Lance begged to go. It was stormy, there was thunder and lightning.” He began to get choked up, taking a deep breath when Hunk rubbed his back reassuringly. 

“It’s okay.” Allura murmured. “Take your time.”

“We- We lost him. We were ten miles out in the ocean, there was a storm, and then lightning struck the water too close to us, so we turned back. Next thing we knew, we were at the dock and Lance was gone.”

“Lightning?” Allura asked, looking at Lance and Coran with a knowing look that was returned by both men. 

“It must be-” Coran said, staring at Lance.

Lance laughed when he saw how confused Marco looked. “Don’t worry, it’s not bad. When Shiro and Allura found me, I had this bright red scar across my chest. The doctor said it was caused by a lightning strike, but we never knew how I got it. It must have been from when I fell in.” The Cuban pulled up his shirt to reveal the slightly darker, scarred patterns that traced over his chest and stemmed out from where the locket rest. 

“It conducted the electricity?” Marco asked, staring at Lance in awe. “That’s so cool- ¡Dios mío! I’m glad you lived through that.” The Cuban grinned up at Lance, then took a hold of his phone. “Anton should be ready to come over-” Marco said, only for there to be a sharp knock on the door. 

“I’ll get it!” Hunk called, opening the door. “Good morning Señor McClain.” The larger teen greeted the teacher, ushering him inside. 

Allura stood staring at the adult who stood in front of her. “My name is Allura, nice to meet you. Am I to assume you are Anton?”

Anton smiled kindly at her. “You would be correct, nice to meet you.” He shook her hand and sat down next to Marco. “Thank you for taking care of Lance for all these years… I’m beyond proud at how he’s grown up.” The older brother reached out, punching Lance’s shoulder gently. 

“I am proud as well.” Allura looked at Lance fondly. “He is family to me.”

“You’re our family now, too.” Marco interrupted, a large grin on his face. “Mamá and Papá will love you too! We’re planning on going down when school gets out. Lance, Keith, Pidge, Anton, you two, and I! It might be a little crowded and we might need to get a hotel room, but Mamá wouldn’t mind!”

Anton sighed, a smile on his face as he shook his head. “Allura, would you like to come with us?”

Allura smiled back. “Of course I would! I’m sure my boss won’t mind me leaving the company for a bit! Coran?” She looked at her uncle, who was frowning.

“I’m not sure I can make it. I have quite the busy schedule this month.” Coran looked distraught at the idea of missing Lance’s family reunion.

“Coran.” Lance shuffled over to him. “I promise to call you when we get there, okay? We can face time and everything! I’ll introduce you to everyone! It’s not like you’re going to be in space-” 

The words hung heavy, and Lance knew that everyone’s minds went to Shiro. But he continued. “I promise.”

“I will mark it on my calendar.” Coran’s eyes were watering again as he nodded to Lance. 

Marco was the next to break the awkward air. “I think we should start packing then. Break starts in two days, Allura, I’m sure there’s an empty dorm that you could use until then.”

Anton looked thoughtfully at the door, then nodded. “You can use Room 21. It’s one of the older dorms, no one really uses it because it has outdated systems, but I doubt you care about daily alarms and news, right?”

The conversations continued between the group until the evening, putting their plan in place. They would leave after finals on Friday and make their way down to California for summer break. With Coran unable to make it on the trip, Hunk had been able to take some time off from his culinary event and go on the trip with them. They decided to rent a van so they could all fit in one car, with Anton and Allura in the front, Marco, Lance and Keith in the middle, and Pidge and Hunk in the back.  
After they got there, they would get to the house and surprise the family. After the tears and the hugs, they would eat a large dinner and sit on the beach. It would be a perfect night, and it would be everything that Lance ever dreamed he could have. His family, his memories, everything he was before the ocean took him, and he couldn’t be more excited for the day after tomorrow.

X X X 

“Shut up!” Pidge wailed, “If you don’t stop that insufferable chewing noise I will turn this car around!”

“You aren’t driving.” Keith pointed out, happily cuddled into his boyfriends side- who just happened to be the one making the chewing noises that were driving Pidge up the wall. 

“I will do it, Kogane! Don’t test me!” Her voice turning shrill. 

“Test one, two, three. This is Benny on the dispatch.” Marco mumbled under his breath, one earbud in and one out as he listened to musicals and the argument at the same time. 

They were seven hours in to the seven and a half hour drive, and Pidge hadn’t slept the entire ride. Keith and Lance were curled up together in the middle row, Marco pressed against the right window. Hunk was fast asleep, as well as Allura, who was in the front next to Anton. 

“Kids, please.” Anton asked in exasperation. “There’s only half an hour left. Lance, eat with your mouth closed. And Keith, your commentary is not helpful. Let Pidge take a nap.”

“I’m not tired!” Pidge screeched, tossing a shoe at a still loudly chewing Lance in indignation.

“Okay!” Anton yelled, “that’s it!” He pulled over in the car, slamming on the breaks at a gas station that they were about to pass. “Get out!” Anton seethed, startling poor Hunk awake. Allura remained in a deep sleep- she was used to ruckus from when she lived with Lance and Keith. 

The kids all piled out as Anton refilled the gas tank. “Go inside and pick out a snack, one thing each. I’m going to get gas and stretch my legs. Half an hour, and we’re back here. Got it?” Anton gave each kid 3 dollars, then turned to fill up the gas tank.

Lance looked around the small town they were parked in. It was the outskirts of a slightly larger city, and each building looked older and a little home-like. About half a mile away, Lance spotted a tall white spire sticking up above the roofs of the other buildings. A cross was on top of the spire, glinting in the slowly fading sun. 

Keith had already gone inside along with the others, so Lance looked down at his phone. He still had around 30 minutes, and he wasn’t very hungry. Pocketing the cash, Lance started towards what he assumed was a Church. 

Back in Childress, Lance never went to Church. Allura and Coran didn’t follow a religion, nor did Shiro or Keith. Lance himself never felt like he had studied it before he got lost, but here he was, pushing open the modest, brown doors to the white building. The walls were the same white wood as the exterior, and it was a very old building. Rows of worn, wooden pews were facing a stand with a cross standing up next to it. There were no people in the pews, and a soft hymn was playing over a speaker somewhere within the building. 

All of a sudden, someone walked into the main room where Lance was from a side closet, presumably storage as the man entered with a broom. He was fairly short, but built. He could probably bench press two Lance’s at once.

“Excuse me-” Lance said timidly, not noticing that the man had earbuds in. 

“Oh, hello-” The man turned and paused. “Welcome to Holy Trinity Church, my name is Miguel. If you would like any help, just let me know. We don’t have a service until Sunday.” 

“Oh, no. I just wandered in. My family and I are on a road trip, they’re getting gas at the station a few blocks that way.” Lance pointed the way he came, then smiled at Miguel. 

“Ohh.” Miguel smiled at him. “Well, welcome. Feel free to sit down and rest for a bit if you need it. I know how tiring family can be sometimes.” He went back to sweeping, but glanced at Lance every so often.

“Hey, um, sir? Lance had been flipping through a Bible, not really reading, but more of just gazing at it. 

“Please, Call me Miguel.” Miguel asked, pausing his sweeping. “What do you need?”

“What’s it like to know when you’re home?” 

“Home?” Miguel thought for a moment. “Well, home is where you feel safe. I have a home with my family and a home here, in the Church.”

“What if you don’t remember what home used to be?” Lance set the Bible down, looking at Miguel.

“You’ll just have to make a new one, I guess. As long as you have people that make you feel safe, home can be made anywhere.” 

“Thanks Miguel.” Lance sighed, resting his cheek on his palm.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s got you down?” Miguel propped his broom against the wall and walked over to Lance.

“Oh. It’s not really important.” Lance sighed. “I should be happy, I’m in a good relationship, I’m in a good school, and I’ve found my family. I just, now I have two worlds that are crashing together, and what if it doesn’t work? I don’t remember my birth family, well... not completely anyways. There are little things that I remember every now and then. But I have them back now. Then my adoptive family, who I’ve been with since I was ten. How am I supposed to be with both of them?”

“That’s sounds pretty loaded.” Miguel said, looking at Lance with a miffed expression. “But like I said, home is where you feel safe. If you feel safe with both families, then you have two homes. And that’s a lot better than having one, isn’t it?” 

“I guess you’re right.” Lance smiled at Miguel. “Thank you, Miguel.”

“You’re welcome…” Miguel tapped the pew absently. “Did I catch your name?”

“Oh, I’m Lance.” He pulled his locket from under his shirt, fiddling with the charm. “Thanks again, but I should get going.” He held a hand out for Miguel, the other still around his charm. But when Lance met Miguel's eyes, Miguel wasn’t looking at him. He was staring at Lance’s charm. “Something wrong…?” Lance asked warily, lowering his hand. 

“Lance?” The man's voice was wavering. 

“Yeah?” The teen sounded unsure, gazing at Miguel with an unsettled look. 

“What’s your last name?”

“Smythe.” Lance frowned. “Oh. Um. Or McClai-”

The larger man crushed Lance into a hug before the teen could finish, muttering quietly in Spanish, too muffled for Lance to make out. 

“Miguel-” Lance’s mind raced, before it clicked. “Are you… Are you my brother?” His voice caught in his throat, and his eyes began to burn. 

“Lance.” Miguel breathed shakily, pulling back from the hug. His hands gripped the smaller boys shoulders, and he nodded. “Do you remember me?”

“I-I don’t-” Lance stared at the man in front of him, his mind pounding as he tried to remember, In one quick second, the taller of the two males wrapped his arms around the shorter. “You were my favorite.” He breathed as Miguel's arms tightened around him once more. 

“Oh my god I thought I would never see you again, how did you get here?” Miguel’s voice was raspy, and he had tears in his eyes.

“I go to school with Marco and Anton.” Lance explained. “It’s a long story, but we’re on our way to surprise your- _our_ family.” The words were funny to say, because he only ever had Coran and Allura as family, so to say them to someone who wasn’t the Smythes was new. 

Suddenly, Lance’s phone rang. When Lance pulled the phone out of his pocket, he saw Keith’s caller ID. Quickly, Lance answered the call, one arm still around his newfound brother. 

“Lance, where the hell are you?” Keith’s voice came over the phone as if he was mad, his words rushed. “Get back to the gas station right now! Pidge is calling dibs for the middle and Anton is going to consider it if you don’t get your ass back here pronto!”

With a quiet snort, Lance pulled away from Miguel. “Keith, calm down. I just went for a short walk to stretch my legs, I’ll see you in five.”

“I’m already counting.” Keith droned, a loud screech from Pidge about the back seat was all Lance heard before Keith hung up. 

“I have to go-” Lance glanced at his brother. “Can I see you at dinner?” He looked hopeful, a small smile on his face.

“I’m just closing up, actually. I’ll be home just before you guys probably, if you can stall Anton a little bit. I’ve got a great idea…”

“Oh hell yeah.” Lance grinned.

X X X

Lance was practically buzzing in his seat. It was a little cramped, in the back with Hunk. He had ended up later than five minutes, so Pidge had declared the middle seat her own domain. The time it took Lance to get back to the car added on to the time it took the group to figure out the seating situation gave Miguel more than enough time to make it home before them. 

“Okay.” Anton said shakily, pulling into a driveway. The first thing that Lance noticed about the house was how familiar it was. The driveway was fairly short, but only led to a garage. “The front door is around the side.” Anton explained, noticing Lance’s weird look. 

“It’s so weird being back here.” Lance said breathily. “I recognize everything, but I know I haven’t seen it since I was ten.” 

The house wasn’t very big, and it had light colored cement walls with orange trimming and roofing. There were cast iron bar flower planters in front of the windows, all the flowers overspilling the sides of them. Calla Lilies lined the front of the house around the garage. 

Lance grabbed his backpack and swung it over his shoulders, still staring at the house where he grew up. “Let’s go.” The Cuban swallowed, grabbing onto his backpack straps. 

“Lance.” Keith whispered, stepping up beside him. “It’ll be okay. They all love you so much.”

“Thanks.” Lance gave Keith a nervous smile, still gripping the arm straps of his backpack. He walked up slowly, Anton and Marco in front of him. The two boys knocked and a short, friendly looking woman opened the door and smiled, turning back and yelling into the house. 

“Your brothers are here! Come say hello!” She turned back and opened her arms. “Welcome home, mis hijos.” She paused, as if waiting for her sons to give her a hug. When it didn’t comply, she stared in confusion. “You brought guests?” She spotted Allura and her grin returned. “Bringing home girls, Anton?”

“No Mamá!” Anton frowned, spotting his oldest brother holding a camera and grinning. Miguel gave him a thumbs up, only adding to the hectic situation. All the McClain’s were standing behind their mother now, Anita with a baby girl on her hip and her husband behind her. Eva was wearing an oven mitt, probably having just left the kitchen where she was helping cook. The twins were pushing each other aside to get closer to the door.

“What gives?” Lana complained, looking over her mother's shoulder. “Let them in Anton, stop being a baby!”

“Hold on! Allura isn’t our guest!” Marco tried to shush everyone, “we brought someone else.”

“Mamá. Papá.” Lance stepped in front of his brothers, his hair falling in front of his face as he glanced up at his father and then down at his mother. 

His mother fell silent, staring at Lance was wide eyes that were beginning to water. She stood frozen, as if she was unable to move. Lance bent down, wrapping his arms around the woman who raised him until he was torn from her. His touch seemed to spur her to life, and she began to sob. Her arms wrapped around her son and held tight as she cried in Spanish. “My son.” She looked up at him, and spotted the locket around his neck. “You still have it-” Her fingers traced over the rusted metal as Lance just nodded and hugged her tighter. 

Luis, Lance’s father, joined the hug, his arms circling around both his wife and son. “We never gave up hope.”

Leo looked around at the others, then back at Lance in disbelief. “Lance?” He grabbed his twin sisters hand to ground himself, feeling a bit light headed. “It’s really you…”

Eva was crying, her arms around herself. Miguel was filming the entire thing like he and Lance planned, even though even his eyes were watering. 

“Seven years!” A voice rose above the commotion, and everyone’s eyes were drawn towards the second oldest McClain, Anita. She had given her daughter to her husband and had her arms crossed. “Where the hell have you been, Lance!” She pushed past the twins and pulled Lance and their mother into a hug. “I missed you so much, you idiot.” 

“I lost my memory.” Lance murmured into his mother's shoulder. “I don’t remember anything from before the day I turned ten. I washed up in Mexico and was adopted. My adoptive family looked so hard for you.” Lance hiccuped. “We looked so hard…” 

“It’s okay, hijo.” Mrs. McClain reassured her son through her tears. “We shouldn’t have given up the search so early… All that matters is that you’re safe. You’re home.” 

“Home…” Lance squeezed his mom and Anita one last time before pulling away. He looked around at the family he had lost. It felt like Déjà vu, being around the McClains. “I want to introduce you to some people.”

Allura stepped forwards and smiled, holding out a hand for Mrs. McClain. “My name is Allura Smythe, my uncle adopted Lance. He’s like a brother to me.” Her eyes were beginning to spill tears. “He was in good hands.”

“Thank you.” Mrs. McClain shook Allura’s hand, her words breathy from the tears. She turned her gaze to Pidge and Hunk, who stepped forwards. 

“I’m Katie, this is Hunk.” She motioned to her friend beside her. “We’ve known Lance since he came to live with the Smythes.” She smiled at them. “I’m so happy that he found you.”

Hunk grinned, shaking Mrs. McClain's hand. “A long time ago… well a year, a year ago- Marco said that you made the best food, I can’t wait to try it.”

Mrs. McClain grinned, “You’re in luck. I was wondering why Anton asked that I make so many extra servings for dinner.”

Lance pushed Pidge and Hunk aside, revealing the last member of their group. “Mamá, this is Keith.” He took a hold of Keith’s hand and smiled. 

She looked at Keith up and down. “A little scrawny for a McClain’s taste, but he’ll do just fine for my boy.” She grinned. “I’m so glad you’re home, mi hijo.” She pressed a kiss to the top of Lance’s head. “Never scare me like that again! I have half a mind to ground you for all the grief you’ve put me through.” She teased.

“I’ll try not to.” Lance smiled through watery eyes, letting go of Keith to follow his mother into the house. 

“Lance?” Leo asked, walking up to the younger McClain. “It’s… I’ve missed you.” He gave his brother a smile. “You always were the best looking brother.” He snorted, placing a hand on Lance’s shoulder. At Lance’s confused expression, Leo elaborated. “When you were younger, you were determine to be the best looking McClain.”

“And I am.” Lance grinned smugly at his brother, returning the hand on the shoulder. Leo was about his height, even though he was four years older than Lance himself. 

“Never lost that _charming_ personality, I see.” Lana walked up to Lance’s other side. “I missed you too, Lance.” She wrapped her arms around his torso, giving him a small smile. “Now Leo has some competition in the ego department again.”

“Lana.” Lance breathed, “Leo.” Glancing between the twins, his heart seemed to beat harder. “You pushed me down at the beach and gave me the scar on my elbow.” He nudged Lana off, and laughed “I never forgave you!”

“You remember that?” Marco glanced at Lance, surprised. “Of all the things to remember?”

“My memory is a bit selective.” Lance laughed again. “I don’t get to choose what I remember and what I don’t.” Looking to the left, he spotted a hallway. “Is that the way to the rooms?”

“Yeah.” Miguel called from the kitchen, where the rest of the McClains had gathered to finish up dinner. “Why don’t you guys drop your stuff in your old room. Want me to show you where it is?”

“No thanks, I’ve got it.” Lance replied, turning off down the hallway. It looked familiar, the white beach wallpaper with pictures and record albums lining the long hallway. The trip down the hallway was quite literally memory lane for Lance. Framed photographs of the McClain family smiled down at Lance as he walked. One caught his interest, and he stopped for a moment to look at it. It was a fairly stormy day, he could tell from the dark clouds above the heads of the McClain family. They were posed on a deck in front of the ocean. On Luis McClain’s knees sat a young boy with bright blue eyes and a large smile. He had a little shell necklace around his neck.

It was dated July 28th, seven years ago. That was the day Lance went missing, his birthday. This was the last picture he was in, there were a few more pictures down the rest of the hallway, but Lance ignored them as he absently walked on. 

Without realizing, he had stopped in front of a plain white door with a few sharks and shell images taped around the frame. The door handle was a bit dusty, and when he pushed open the door he was greeted with a waft of ocean-smell. A small desk sat at the foot of a twin sized bed, which was pushed up against a window that faced the ocean. Blue blocky letters above the bed frame spelled out ‘L-A-N-C-E’.

“I’m home.” Lance set his backpack down next to the bed and sat down. When he looked up, he saw Keith standing in the door frame staring at him with a soft expression. 

“Home is with the people you love and who love you, you’ve always been home.” The teen smiled, sitting down beside him. 

“Yeah… you’re right.” Lance sighed, looking around the room. “It’s so weird being here, being back I feel like I remember living in this room. I remember hiding boxes of candy under my bed on halloween so Marco didn’t steal them. I remember hitting my head on the corner of my bed and being rushed to the ER when I was six.” Lance rest his chin on his knees, curling up. “I remember sitting right here with my Mamá when she gave me my locket. I have memories of a room that I don’t feel at home in, and it’s weird...”

Keith wrapped his arms around Lance. “I remember every time you made me smile, starting with the time you brought me that tuna sandwich when we were ten.”

A small snort came from Lance. “Yeah, and then you fell into a creek and had to crawl through mud to get out.”

“It was a bonding moment!” Keith joked, looking at Lance fondly. “I think that everything is going to be okay, we’re all here together. Now you’ve got double the family!”

“I suppose you’re right.” Lance let out a soft laugh. “I just really wish Shiro was here with us right now.” He admitted, glancing at Keith. “He was family too.”

“Hey, he still is family!” Keith frowned. “He’s just on a vacation somewhere he’s always wanted to visit…” 

“Sorry Keith…” Lance frowned too. “I just miss him a lot.”

“Trust me, I do too.” Keith murmured, giving Lance a squeeze. “Now how about we go join your family? I like your mom a lot, I’m glad she approves of me.” 

“Me too.” Lance grabbed Keith’s hand and stood up. “Let’s go.”

Out in the living room, everyone was chatting. Pidge and Hunk were talking with Marco about some biology stuff that was on the final, and Anton was pretending not to hear them so obviously discussing the disclosed material. Allura had sat on the couch with Anita and Eva, she was holding Anita’s daughter, who Lance later found out was named Veronica. His three sisters were talking about fashion or something- Lance didn’t really understand any of it other than Allura was a manager at some fancy European clothing line. Leo and Lana were helping out in the kitchen along with Miguel, and both the McClain parents. 

“What’s for dinner?” Lance grinned, sitting down next to Marco. 

“Ropa vieja, papas rellenas, elena ruz and turrones for dessert.” Mrs. McClain called from the kitchen before Marco could reply. “When you were younger, elena ruz was your favorite so sometimes we have it for meals.”

“I have no idea what any of that means.” Keith whispered to Lance, his eyebrows drawn together. 

“Cute.” Lance rolled his eyes, and leaned back into the couch. “Hey, ‘Llura?”

“What’s up, Lance?” Allura peeked around Eva and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. 

“Thanks for coming with me.” He gave her a smile, “You’re the best.”

“No, you are.” Allura stuck her tongue out at him. “Thanks for being a great little brother. For all of us.” She gestured to the room, Lance being the youngest sibling to everyone here except Pidge, Hunk, Keith, and his parents.

Eva stood up, the top of her head only reaching Lance’s nose. 

“Lance, we lost you seven years ago. In those seven years, a lot has changed. Anita got married and had Veronica. Leo, Lana, and I are all in relationships. Anton became a teacher, and Miguel became a pastor. Marco is studying biology. Almost all of us are college students or graduates. When you left us, even Miguel was still in high school. So much has changed, Lance. But the fact that your back…” Eva’s eyes were watering. 

“Eva-” Lance interrupted, confused as to where the story was going. 

“I’m glad life happened the way it did, because I got to meet Charlie in grief counseling. Anita met Thomas through the coast guards who visited the house to tell us you were gone. Miguel decided to devote his time to religion, something most of us stopped doing once you left. Anton studied ocean biology to honor your love of the water. Point is, you still affected our lives for the better, even if you weren’t here and didn’t know. Thank you, Lance, for the life you’ve given all of us. Now that you’re home, it’s finally complete.” Eva wrapped her arms around Lance. 

“That is… the oddest thank you I have ever gotten.” Lance said, a little dumbstruck. “Thanks?” His confused expression turned sly though, and a grin crept on his face. “Charlie, huh? Who is he?”

“Oh, they’re the cutest couple.” Anita grinned, standing up. “I’ve got some pictures I can show you, if you want.”

“Anita!” Eva frowned looking at her sister. “Which pictures?”

“The ones from the parade.” She answered, grabbing her phone. Anita scrolled through Facebook for a minute until clicking on a picture. Lance was confused for a split second, taking in the image of his sister, Eva, holding one end of a flag with pink to red scale stripes while a girl with long, blonde hair stood next to her holding the other end of the flag so it wrapped around their shoulders. There were rainbows painted on their cheeks, and grins on their faces. 

Lance swiped through the photo set, the two girls in the picture goofing off the camera. The final one was of them kissing. “Eva-” He looked at his sister, setting the phone on the couch. 

“Charlotte asked me to marry her two weeks ago.” Eva flashed the ring at Lance. “Can you guess what I said?”

“Yes!” Lance cried in joy, throwing his arms around his sister. He had been worried that his newfound parents would reject him for who he loved, but his older sister had already cleared that path for him. It explained why his mom had such an indifferent reaction to his announcement. 

“You had nothing to worry about.” Eva ruffled her brother’s hair. “And you never will again… Now stop hugging your sister, it’s time for dinner.”

Lance and the others quickly sat around the table. There was a mismatch of chairs, and it was a tight squeeze, but the table was buzzing with chatter and excitement of the night. 

“A toast,” Mr. McClain said, “to my son.” He raised his glass, knocking it against Miguels. Soon everyone joined, and liquid sloshed around in cups. A bit of the food got splashed, but the McClains couldn’t stop smiling through the night. 

Everyone went to bed eventually, Lance, Keith, Hunk, and Pidge were all in Lance’s old room on air mattresses. Allura stayed in Anita and Eva’s room. Lance’s door creaked open just as the house had fallen silent. Mrs. McClain peeked her head in. “Goodnight, Lance. I love you.”

“I love you too, mom.” Lance gave her a small smile. When she shut the door, he buried himself into his blanket and tried to get some rest. A gentle ocean breeze wafted through the open window, lulling him to sleep.  
The next few days they spent at the beach and eating food. Lance pulled on a pair of swim shorts, and rocketed towards the ocean, Keith right behind him. Once they were knee deep in the warm, shining water, Keith tackled Lance. They fell into the water together, hands locked. Lance broke the surface again, gasping for air. His grip on Keith slipped away when he reached up to push his hair out of his eyes. 

“Not fair!” He turned to grin at Keith, who wasn’t behind him like he thought. “Keith?” Lance frowned, looking around for his boyfriend. He didn’t see him anywhere, and the water was too murky from them kicking up the water. “Keith!” Lance screamed, starting to splash around in the ocean, his breathing quickening. Anton had warned him about undertow the first day them had come out to the beach, and it made Lance worried every time. 

A large splash of water hit Lance in the back, followed by skinny arms wrapping themselves around his neck and pulling him backwards into the water. 

“Keith!” Lance huffed, glaring at the smiling teenager. “I thought you had been pulled out!”

“Me? Never.” Keith laughed, splashing Lance in the face. 

After an hour of playing in the water, they decided to go rest on the beach. Keith liberally applied sunscreen to his pale arms and chest. He pouted at Lance jealousy as the Cuban barely applied any, his skin only getting a warmer brown than before. 

“Like what you see?” Lance teased, laying back in the sand. 

“I guess.” Keith shrugged, flopping down beside him. “It’s not fair that you don’t burn.” He complained, looking over at Lance with a glare. 

“I can’t help melanin.” Lance laughed, stretching out like a cat in the sun. “And I do burn, when I was younger I got a horrible burn on my shoulders from not applying sunscreen. I couldn’t wear a shirt for a week!”

“I’m glad you’re starting to remember…” Keith said softly, grabbing Lance’s hand. “It sucks that we have to leave tomorrow though, just when you were starting to remember.”

“It’s okay.” Lance smiled. “I know who my family is and where home is, and I’m always home with you, Hunk, and Pidge.”

Keith just smiled, turning and laying on his back silently. He soaked up as much sun as he could until they had to go in and pack. 

X X X 

Goodbyes weren’t as hard as Lance expected, he now had everyone’s contact information, and the video of Lance’s return had been posted on facebook by Miguel. Family members from all over the coast were commenting, sending hearts, and wishing the family congratulations. Miguel’s comment of “Welcome home, Lance. It’s a boy!” drew in more attention from outside the family as well. 

His story was shared across the community, even making it back to the Garrison. Teachers as well as students congratulated him, Marco, and Anton. The day went by quick for Lance, and soon it was curfew. 

Lance smiled, closing his eyes and sighing as he settled in for his first night back on the Garrison campus. He was about to fall asleep when he heard rustling from Pidge’s bed. It stopped for a moment, then the dorm room door slid open and shut, casting light on a small figure that darted down the hallway. 

Lance sat up, flicking on the lights. “Hunk!” He called, shaking awake his snoring friend. “Pidge just left! We gotta follow-”

“Lance, it’s late.” Hunk rolled over, trying to get back to sleep.

“Come on, big guy. Pidge is MIA, we gotta find her!”

“Lance?”

“Yeah?” 

“If I go with you, do you promise not to wake me up in the middle of the night for the rest of the semester?”

“I swear, buddy, let’s go!” He hurried to throw on the Garrison uniform, and waited for Hunk at the door. A minute later, his friend joined him and he left. 

“Lance, this isn’t a good idea.” Hunk looked at the Cuban disapprovingly. 

“Oh come on, going on a boat ride in a storm wasn’t a good idea but look where that got me! I got to meet you. Bad ideas lead to the most wonderful outcomes.”

“Fine, but you’re taking the blow when we get caught.”

“You got it, boss.”

Together, the two of them snuck around the Garrison trying to find Pidge. Eventually, they head up to the roof when their search led them nowhere.

There was Pidge, sitting on the roof with headphones on and a contraption in her lap. 

“Pidge, what’re you doing?” Lance walked up to her and pulled the headphones back. 

“Lance!” She said in surprise, then sighed. “I was trying to pick up radio waves.” She set the contraption down beside her and set her headphones around her neck. “Trying to find Matt and dad.” 

“Oh…” Hunk sat down on the other side of Pidge, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Any luck?”

“Actually, the frequencies I’ve been picking up keep saying the same thing over and over. I don’t know what it means though, it’s weird. It keeps saying ‘Voltron’.” Pidge held up a small journal, the word voltron scribbled all over the page. 

“Weiiiiird.” Lance gasped, grabbing at the book. 

“Don’t-” Pidge warned, turning her glare to Hunk, who was reaching for her contraption. “-‘touch anything.”

Hunk pouted, and opened his mouth to talk, but stopped with his mouth gaping when he saw a red streak coming down from the sky.

“What the hell is that?” Pidge turned, eyes wide. 

“Let’s find out!” Lance jumped to his feet when the object crashed into the earth, sending up a small plume of fire and a trail of smoke. 

“Lance-” Hunk said uneasily, “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“Oh sure it is! Remember what I said about bad ideas, buddy!” Lance took off, climbing down the ladder to the ground. 

“We can’t let him go alone, can we?” Pidge looked at Hunk with a flat expression.

“No.” Hunk sighed, and the two followed their friend down. 

The three of them were stationed at the top of a hill, overlooking a white tent that the Garrison had set up around the crash sight of the U.F.O.

“What do you think it is?” Pidge asked, trying to look down. She pulled some binoculars out of her bag, and passed them to Lance. “What do you see?”

“It looks like… Keith!?” Lance shrieked in surprise. “What the heck?” Another glance through the binoculars proved Lance correct. There Keith was, sitting on top of the hover bike that they had used to get him from the ruins. 

“What is Keith doing down there?” Hunk worried, peering down where Lance pointed. 

“We have to go help him!” Lance stood, gasping when a bunch of explosions began going off. “He set a distraction, come on!” Together, the three of them scrambled down the hill, pushing through the white tent flaps to be greeted by a shocking sight. 

Two scientists were crumpled on the ground, Keith standing over a body on the table. A third scientist was in the corner, but Lance paid him no attention. “Keith!” He ran over, but stopped when he saw who was laying down. 

Shiro. But with a white stripe in the front of his hair.

“Oh my God.” Lance breathed, exchanging glances with Keith. Together, the two of them lifted him up, about to leave the tent. 

The third scientist stepped out, looking at him with a soft expression. 

“Anton-” Lance sucked in his breath. 

“Go.” His brother urged them. “Go, Lance, go!”

They exchanged nods, and the teenagers all ran out of the tent with Shiro draped over them. 

“Where are we going to go? We need to hide him!” Keith yelled over the wind as they boarded the hover bike and took off into the desert. 

“The Palatki Ruins!” Lance called up, his arms around Shiro’s shoulders to keep him steady. “That cave on top! We can hide in the back of it.”

“Got it!” Keith veered the bike and sped off in the direction they needed to go. 

Once they reached the ruins, Hunk and Keith took Shiro up to the top of the ruins while Pidge and Lance hid the bike. 

When they were done, they met towards the back of the cave at the top of the ruins. 

“Last time we were here, there was an earthquake.” Keith remembered, looking around the cave. “It was… blue?”

Lance nodded, “I was just looking around, and I found this really cool cat painting so I touched it and then the ground started to shake and there was this roar-”

“Was it this one?” Hunk called, pointing to a blue cat painting a little bit closer to the entrance of the cave. “It’s not causing any earthquakes.” His voice was light as Pidge and Keith tended to Shiro.

Lance glanced up and frowned at him. He let go of Shiro’s hand, who was still unconscious, and walked up to Hunk. “I’m telling you! I just did this-” Lance traced his fingers across the old painting, and all of a sudden it lit up blue.

Hunk and Lance shrieked, backing away from the painting. Like a fire, the blue spread to all the other paintings in the cave until it was almost blinding. Then, the floor fell away, and the five of them tumbled into the darkness. 

“Lance, what did you do?” Keith called, hugging his passed out brother to his chest. 

“N-Nothing-” Lance stuttered, looking defensive. “Is everyone okay?”

“All good.” Pidge groaned, shoving herself out from underneath Hunk.

“Sorry Pidge.” The larger teen apologized, looking guilty.

“Shiro looks fine… well, as good as a passed out man can be.” Keith scanned over his brother’s body, checking for any damage. “Something seems a little weird though-”

But before Keith could get out the rest of his thought, a soft blue glow drew the attention of the group. 

“Oh-” Keith gasped.

“-My-” Lance stared with wide eyes.

“-God.” The smallest teen finished, grinning like a mad man. “This is amazing! What kind of- lion? What is this?”

“It’s kinda scary- You guys, we should try to find a way out.” Hunk worried, his eyebrows drawn together. 

“No way! This is what was on the painting, the wall painting!” Lance headed towards it, “It’s so cool-” He reached out, only to receive a sharp ‘no!’ from Keith.

“Don’t touch it, we don’t know what it does.” Keith gently draped Shiro against him, trying hard to support the mans weight.

“I’ve got him.” Hunk took most of Shiro’s weight, allowing Keith to rush to Lance. 

While Hunk hung back, Pidge, Keith, and Lance inspected the glowing sphere with a blue lion inside. 

“How do we get in?” Pidge hesitated before pressing her hand against the sphere. Nothing happened, “It’s like… a force field!” She smiled, pressing her face against it. “How do we get in?”

“Maybe we could cut our way in?” Keith wondered, his hand venturing towards his waist.

Lance eyed him suspiciously, then shook his head. “Why don’t we just knock?” He raised a hand, gently knocking on the surface of the shield. 

The other’s expected nothing to happen, but the second Lance’s knuckles came in contact with the force field, it fell and the lion was spurred into action.

Hunk and Keith gasped, stepping away. Pidge hid behind Lance, who just smiled at the lion. 

“I think we should get in it!” Lance pointed to the open mouth of the large, metal cat. 

“Lance, are you crazy?” Pidge hissed, backing up to stand with Keith. “It could eat you!”

“I don’t think it will. I think it’s friendly.” Lance began to walk towards it, still smiling. “Aren’t you, huh?” He talked in a voice commonly associated with babies or dogs. 

“Voltron.” A voice spoke up, drawing everyone’s attention. 

“Shiro.” Keith grabbed a hold of his brother’s arms and looked at his face. “It’s me, Keith!”

“Voltron.” Shiro repeated, staring past Keith at the large, robotic cat. 

“I think-”

Lance turned back to the lion, “this suddenly got way cooler.” With a grin on his face, he marched inside the lion’s mouth, disappearing from his friend’s view.

“Oh God!” Pidge wailed, hurrying after her friend. She disappeared inside the lion as well, Hunk, Keith, and Shiro close behind. Once all of them were inside, the Lion closed it’s mouth. They glanced around. 

“This is a pilot’s room.” Lance walked in, noticing the control panel and view out the lions eyes. 

All of a sudden, the panel powered up, a blue glow filling the room. 

“I think it wants me to pilot it..” Lance moved forwards, sitting in the seat in the middle of the room.

“Is this a good idea?” Hunk asked, arms still around the weakened Shiro.

“Bad idea, good outcome.” Lance grinned, “everyone, hold on!” He grabbed a hold of the controls and pressed forwards, sending the lion lurching out of it’s position and into the sky. They burst through the ruins.

“We ruined the ruins.” Keith said flatly, but his grip on the seat behind Lance was white. 

“Woo Hoo!” Lance laughed, sending the lion into acrobatic tricks. Then all of a sudden, it streaked towards the side.

“Whoa-” Hunk turned green. “I’m gonna be sick.”

“Not on the upholstery!” Lance shrieked, controlling the lion as best as he could. 

The lion slowed to a hover in the middle of nowhere, until they looked around. 

“This is-” Lance began, looking down at the small shack with green tin roofing. 

“Home.” Keith breathed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the scene at the end of this isn't exactly the same as in the show because heck, different beginning = different outcome so?


	7. Take me Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance finally uncover the truth about who they are meant to be, and who has helped them get there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's been a fat minute since I've updated, and I wanted to finish this story so I wrote this chapter today, so there may be typos. I'm about to head out to eat, so this is me, signing off of Grasp the Atlas one last time. 
> 
> Thank you :)

Looking down from the view on the screen before them, the group could see a desert with a creek cutting through it, a small shack, and in the distance there was a town.

 

“Childress!” Hunk exclaimed, peering out in surprise. 

 

“You don’t think-” Keith began, looking at Lance with wide eyes. 

 

“It has to be!” Lance breathed, returning Keith’s look. 

 

“What has to be?” Pidge groaned, glancing between them. “Y’all need to chill out on that martial mind reading shit.”

 

“It’s a red lion.” Keith said, sure of himself. “The red lion of Voltron.”

 

He wasn’t sure where he ha come up with the idea, or why he was willing to bet money on the fact that there was a red lion underneath his old playground, but he had to get down there and check. 

 

“Take me down there.” Keith said, looking over at Lance. 

 

“Sure thing.” Lance looked around at the controls. “Um… Hey, uh, Blue? Could you take us dow- ah!” He was interrupted by the lion diving suddenly towards the earth, but the Cuban only smiled with excitement. 

 

X x x 

 

Hunk ended up vomiting, while had both Lance and the lion making grumbling noises. 

 

Keith hurried out of the blue lion with Lance close behind. They ran off, leaving Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro behind. 

 

Pidge frowned after the two, but looked down at Shiro, then over to Hunk. “Hey, let’s get him to the house. I saw the Smythe’s house a little up that way. We can get him some real help there.”

 

“Good idea.” Hunk’s breathing was shuddering, and he was still in shock. 

 

“This is crazy.” Pidge mumbled, glancing at the lion as they head off towards the house. 

 

X x x

 

“Lance, Lance it’s here!” Keith called to the other teen, staring at the crack in the rock that he had used to fit into with ease. Now he had to squeeze in, barely able to fit comfortably. He looked over at Lance, who was standing at the entrance. 

 

“I don’t think I’ll fit, Keith.” The teen was staring at the entrance to the cave, obviously too broad to fit through. 

 

“It’s okay, I’ll be fine.” Keith promised, then pushed on further until he reached the paintings in the cave. The faded, red markings were just as dull as they had been years ago, but they were more interesting now. Keith took a deep breath and gently placed his palm against the painting. For a moment, nothing happened. 

 

“Lance-” He called, his voice wavering with disappointment. Then the small cave lit up, red light racing along the lines of the paintings, a red cat lighting up in front of Keith’s face. Then the cave began to shake, and pebbles began to fall from the walls. 

 

“Keith!” The teen could vaguely hear his name being screeched from far off. “Get out of there!”

 

“No!” Keith yelled back. “I won’t leave until I find the red lion! I need to know!”

 

All of a sudden the cave swallowed him whole and Keith’s vision went black. 

 

When it came back, he was inside a cockpit, red lights glowing around him.

 

“Yes!” He pumped a fit out of excitement, looking down at the ground. A little ways below him was Lance, standing at the edge of a hole in the ground from where the cave had fallen in, staring up at the red lion with a look of awe. 

 

The red lion set down on the ground, and Keith ran out of the mouth and to Lance. “That was amazing!” He breathed, looking over at the robot cats that were parked beside each other. “Wait, where did Pidge and Hunk go with Shiro?”

 

“My guess is they went home…” Lance grinned, his hands finding their way into his uniform pockets. “Allura and Coran are home!”

 

“We only got back from California yesterday…” Keith remembered, then nodded, “Let’s go visit.”

 

The two of them headed towards the house, and noticed that the two lions had reverted back to sitting position with a barrier back around them once again. 

 

“Allura!” Lance laughed, running into the house and throwing his arms around his adoptive sister. “You won’t  _ believe _ the day I just had.”

 

“Pidge has caught me up some.” Allura nodded, returning Lance’s hug. “You found the red lion?”

 

Pidge’s head popped up, her eyes narrowing. “What do you mean, red lion? I never told you that’s where they were going.”

 

Allura blanched, looking at Pidge. It only lasted a second before she glanced at Coran, getting a nod from the smiling old man. She relaxed, pulling her hair out of it’s bun. “Everyone.” She began, looking at the group. “My name is Allura. Allura of Altea.”

 

“Uhhh, no, you’re Allura of England.” Lance looked confused, “Are you okay, Allura?”

 

“My father was King Alfor, and I am Princess Allura.” Allura smiled, stepping away from Lance. “Can I trust you with this secret?” She asked, glancing at the children she had known since they were little. 

 

“You can trust me with anything.” Lance laughed nervously, hugging himself as he looked at his sister with a worried look. 

 

“My home was destroyed.” Allura looked back at Coran. “Our home was destroyed. My father sent the five lions of Voltron across the universe to prevent Voltron from forming, from becoming too powerful in the wrong hands. Allura suddenly began to change, her hair seeming to become shinier, her eyes became a bright blue and her ears coming to points. But the biggest change was pink marks under her eyes, her appearance becoming more regal than ‘older sister’. 

 

Lance stumbled back, bumping into Shiro, who was now standing. 

 

“What’s going on?” Lance rubbed his eyes. “Did I eat some bad food at The Garrison? Am I asleep?”

 

“If you’re hallucinating buddy, then so am I.” Hunk said, his skin paler than usual. 

 

“Me too.” Pidge squeaked, grabbing on to Hunk’s arm. 

 

“Lance.” Allura bit her cheek. “We didn’t want to lie to you.”

 

“We?” Lance looked at Coran, only to see that his appearance had morphed as well. “Oh my God.” He breathed, glancing between his two adoptive family members. 

 

“We came here to guard the lions.” Coran spoke, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small device. He tapped the top of it and a glowing image projected out of it. It showed planet Earth with an X on America. “We knew the location of the red lion, as it was what brought us here to escape Altea as it was destroyed. It hid itself, only revealing its location to the paladin who can fly it.”

 

“Keith.” Lance mumbled, looking at the teen for the first time since the ordeal started. The black-haired teen was staring at Lance in shock.

 

“And that means Lance is blue.” Hunk interrupted, stepping towards Allura. 

 

“Correct.” Allura nodded, reaching out and putting a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “I hope you don’t find this… odd.”

 

“Ah what the heck, I got from Arizona to Texas in 30 seconds in a flying blue lion that I found in a glowing cave. My sister turning out to be an alien from a forgotten civilization can’t be much more odd than that.”Lance forced a laugh, still looking confused as if he was dreaming.

 

“Destroyed, not forgotten.” Coran chimed in, then heading towards the kitchen. “So here we’ve been, searching for the blue lion, until we found you. Allura and Shiro brought you back, they knew you would be the next blue paladin.”

 

Lance turned to the man behind him, who he had seen as a brother since he was ten. “You knew?” He looked wary. “Are you an alien too?”

 

Shiro just smiled, “no, I’m human, through and through.”

 

“Is… is that why you went to space?” Keith spoke up in a hushed tone, his arms crossed to guard himself. “To… help?”

 

“Yes.” Shiro nodded, “I went to space with the Holt’s to find Kerberos, where we thought the blue lion could be. But we were wrong.” His face went sour. “It was a trap by the Galra.”

 

Allura snapped her attention to Shiro. “The Galra? On Kerberos?”

 

“They took us.” Shiro looked at the ground. “They still have Matt and Sam.”

 

Pidge wailed, all eyes in the room turning to her. 

 

“I’ll get them back.” Lance promised, his expression hardening. “I’ll find them, Pidge.” Hunk wrapped his arms around her, reassuring their youngest friend. 

 

Allura stepped forwards, placing her hand on Coran’s shoulder. “We need to get the castle.” She announced, turning her gaze to the group. 

 

“You have a castle?” Lance asked in exasperation. “Why were we living in a shack?”

 

“We can’t exactly park a castle in the middle of Texas.” Allura laughed, swiping her hand over the device Coran had brought out. The picture changed to the image of some building resembling an odd rocketship. “Behold, the Castle of Lions.” She sounded proud. 

 

“It’s… amazing.” Lance breathed, then looked at Allura. “Will we be able to find the Holts?”

 

“We will try.” Allura nodded, then put the device away. “If we get the castle and then get the lions, I have no doubt that we can rescue the Holts.”

 

“Then let’s do it.” Keith said, his voice solid. “Let’s go to space.”

 

“Space-” Lance stared at the sky out the window with a longing look. It was day time, so there wasn’t much to see of the stars, but he could only imagine how amazing it was out there. 

 

“Paladins.” Coran grinned, holding up bags. “Let’s go to space.”

 

“You want us to bring… sandwiches?” Pidge sniffled, rubbing her nose but her tone was light with laughter. 

 

“The lions are only stocked with food goo, we don’t have Earth delicacies.”

 

“Oh-” Lance and Hunk’s stomach groaned, and they snatched the sandwiches. 

 

“Let’s go.” Allura smiled. “Shiro, Keith, and I will take the red lion. Lance, Coran, Pidge, and Hunk will go in the blue lion. Is everyone ready?”

 

“Yeah!” Lance cheered, leading the group out of the house. 

 

Hunk was worrying to Allura about how he wasn’t packed and ready for space, while Pidge had calmed down and only let anger show on her face. Keith looked similar to Pidge, while Coran and Lance carried on a bubbly conversation about Altea. 

 

They reached the lions, but before Lance and Allura boarded, he pulled his sister aside. 

 

“Allura… I have family now. Can I tell them where I’m going?” He sounded sad, “I just found them, too.”

 

“Tell them you’re going on a mission.” Allura smiled, “don’t lie to them, Lance. You can tell them.”

 

Lance smiled gratefully and pulled out his phone. 

 

“Hey… Marco?” He paused, “Yeah, I know it’s really early. I’m back in Childress, I need to go somewhere… Yeah, yeah, I know. I know!” He repeated, “Wow, word spread that fast?” Lance smiled softly. “I have to go now, Marco. I’m going to save the universe. Tell everyone that I love them, okay? I promise I’ll be home by Christmas.”

 

Lance put his phone away, and smiled at Allura. The two of them climbed into the lions, and the mouths closed. 

 

“Lance?” Keith’s voice came through an intercom in the cockpit. 

 

“Howdy, Pardner.” Lance grinned, grabbing on to the throttle. “You ready to roll?”

 

“Always.” Keith’s face popped up in the corner of the screen. “As long as you are.”

 

“Always.” Lance repeated, then pushed forward on the gears and streaked into the sky with the red lion close behind, ready to chart a whole new world.


	8. Family Tree!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHECK BACK A CHAPTER FOR CHAPTER 5! (updated 6-16-18) I'm moving this chapter to the back because it breaks up the story otherwise!
> 
> So this is just the family tree for the McClains that PastelLance and I use for our fics! I figured this would make it easier to remember where each member fits in, because they'll all be coming in really soon!
> 
> The chart reads:  
> -Name  
> -DOB  
> -Year born

Blondevient and PastelLance McClain Family Tree

* * *

 

 Ana McClain + Luis McClain

|

  Miguel | Anita | Eva | Anton | Leo | Lana | Marco | Lance  
   1/09 | 12/21 | 9/12 | 4/20 | 5/5 | 5/5  | 7/02  | 7/28  
  1992 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1996 | 1996 | 1999 | 2000

The years are just a reference for how old they are compared to each other, and otherwise has no year that the fic itself takes place in!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out PastelLance's fic! They use the same family tree!  
> ( https://archiveofourown.org/works/11804556/chapters/26628588 )
> 
> Not sure what names PastelLance uses for Lance's parents, but I use Ana and Luis.  
> Luis is a rare appearance in this fic lmAO


End file.
